Trading Yesterday
by Kanna37
Summary: Forced back to Tokyo by her estranged husband's demands, Kagome vows to fight whatever his game is until the month he'd insisted on was up and she could go back to Auckland. But Sesshoumaru wasn't about to let his runaway bride get away again - for his own reasons.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Kagome sighed tiredly as she unlocked the door to the apartment she shared with her best friend, then knocked loudly as she walked in so her roommate was warned that she was back.

"That you, Kagome?" her roommate called as she stepped inside. Sango was her best friend – a rather dangerous woman when needed, she didn't put up with any male bullying her... or Kagome, either. The young woman had learned a lot about independence and strength of will from her friend. They were lessons she'd sorely needed when they'd first met. "Want some coffee?"

She admired Sango greatly.

"Hai," she called back, "and yes, please!" The thought of coffee was a definite mood booster. It had been a _long_ day.

It looked as though it was going to get even longer before it was through, too, she acknowledged with another sigh.

She flipped through the mail laid neatly out on the little table in the foyer, looking for the one in particular that Sango had made mention of when she'd called her earlier - 'something difficult and official looking' from Tokyo.

_Sesshoumaru._

Moving into the small living room she set her bag down and, with trembling fingers, neatly slit open the letter addressed to her in an elegant, spare hand. She wasn't looking forward to reading what it contained...

Five minutes later she was still reading it, a deep frown creasing her brow as she struggled to take in what it was telling her while remaining calm. Sango frowned in turn as she entered the room with two mugs of coffee and took note of her best friend's expression.

"Bad news?" she asked, concerned. Kagome didn't often frown, and when she did it was serious.

"You could say that," she said slowly, still perusing the letter and answering abstractedly. "Sesshoumaru won't release my money to me unless I go see him in person, first." She sounded frustrated. "I need that money and he knows it. He can make me pretty much dance to his tune anytime he wants by holding my inheritance from me."

Sango looked confused. "I thought your lawyer was named Kouga? Isn't he in charge of your money?"

Kagome looked tired in that moment and Sango had a feeling that things for her friend were about to get very, very difficult.

"Sesshoumaru is my husband," she said, and the young woman's mouth fell open. "He controls all my monies until I'm twenty-five. Two years from now."

"Husband? You're not married! I met you the same day you arrived here from Tokyo, the day you turned eighteen – and you haven't married any of the local wildlife, so..." she trailed off with an expression of concern – and more than a little confusion.

Grabbing her mug of coffee and taking a sip, she sighed. "I was seventeen when I was married to Sesshoumaru."

"_Seventeen?!"_ Sango was horrified; her eyes opened as wide as they could go and she blanched. She stared at her friend for several moments and then sat up; clapping determined hands together, she said, "Right. Start talking."

"I suppose I could discuss it."

"Suppose? Gee, don't sound too enthusiastic. What in the hell possessed you to marry someone while still a _schoolgirl_?"

"I wasn't given a choice, really. My father had just died and I had no other close family. The only other choice of person for me to stay with would have been my distant cousin Kikyou – and she would only have done it to gain access to my inheritance. You've met Kikyou-" matching dirty looks crossed both girl's faces at mention of that name, "-so you know how much of a choice that was. Father was friends with Sesshoumaru and his father – he's youkai – and trusted him to take care of me. Not to mention some of my inheritance was tied up with their fortunes, as most of my shares in stock were in their companies. Apparently, before father had died he had spoken to Sesshoumaru about taking me as his wife for my protection, supposedly. To keep any smooth talker from coming and getting me to marry them so they could get their hands on my money," she trailed off, swirling the coffee in her mug absently as she spoke.

Sango shook her head, thinking that it all sounded so barbaric and heavy-handed. To marry your daughter off to a much older man, just so no one else could get her money? He could have just been named her guardian, with the ruling that she wasn't allowed to retain her money until a certain more mature age, as it appeared they had done. And even maybe with a provision that a potential husband had to be screened, just to make sure. She could see that. But this? Something didn't sound right to her...

"I don't know," she finally sighed. "Something about all that doesn't sound on the level, girl. There were other ways to keep your money safe, even if you'd turned out to be one of those silly fools that fall for every good-looking bad man out there. I guess it just seems odd... I mean, what did this Sesshoumaru get out of this? Not too many men are that altruistic to marry a young girl like that and not benefit in some way out of it."

"Oh, he gained something, all right. He needed someone to keep the women off of him. You see, he's quite handsome, beautiful really, and while he enjoyed 'sowing his oats-" her expression going distant and grim, "-he didn't want to be harassed about marrying any of them. Having a wife already was a good excuse."

Her friend looked scandalized. "A lecher, eh? Sounds like another person we both know," she frowned, it being her turn to look grim. "Wanted to play, but didn't want to pay. Lovely, Kagome. Another man without a heart."

"Oh, no, he had a heart," she denied her friend's allegation. "It was just that she had died. He'd been married before – he even has a daughter that's not that much younger than me. She'd been the love of his life, as his mother constantly delighted in telling me. She was perfect and elegant and always knew what to do in any situation. She had class and power – of course she was youkai, where I was just a silly human girl with some reiki that I couldn't even control. A teenager with no experience. When she died he buried his heart with her, and after that women were only good for one thing." She sighed after a moment, then chuckled, her tone dry. "I tried so hard to be a decent wife, tried to act older than I was, but I was surrounded by much older people with a sophistication I couldn't compete with – I'd barely even lived, and until father died I'd never been away from the shrine much at all. And of course their high-society friends pulled no punches laughing at me for my so-called _husband's_ infidelities. They didn't even bother talking behind my back – they did it to my face. Finally..." she trailed off, then stopped, and shook her head. "I'd had enough, what with all that and everything else, besides, and ran. That's how I ended up here, an ex-pat Japanese girl living in New Zealand. And you know the rest of the story."

It was a tale right out of a nightmare, and Sango was outraged. "It's those traditional men I'm so glad I've never had to deal with in living here. I might be Japanese by birth, but I just don't think I could put up with the men over there. It's the same the world over – the good old boy syndrome. That's why your father married you off to some older guy. It wasn't because he'd really be good to you and do right by you. It was because they all think that marrying you is doing right by you, no matter how badly they really treat you. As long as they feed and clothe you, you should be happy and keep your mouth shut." She huffed. "First one tried that with me I'd lay them out."

Her friend's black eyes flashed as she spoke; Kagome had no doubt she'd do just that, too. She would have loved to see someone do that to Sesshoumaru and any combination of his cronies, she thought, with the brittle anger that hadn't abated in the years since she'd left. It had merely eased somewhat.

And now she was going to have to return to the scene of the crime, and all because Sesshoumaru apparently felt like flexing his muscles. Why he'd never agreed to a divorce, she'd never understood. It wasn't like he needed her for any _real_ reason whatsoever.

After a bit more desultory conversation she made her excuses and went off to take a nice, long, relaxing soak, knowing she would have little relaxation for some time to come once she arrived back in Tokyo. She hadn't gone back once since she'd left, and had never intended to again. She'd figured that Sesshoumaru would simply have the divorce put through on his end, and that would be that – she would close the door on it all and chalk it up to experience.

But he never had, even though she'd finally gotten tired of waiting for him to do so after five years and written him asking him to basically get on with it. It hadn't been two weeks later that she'd been offered the chance to buy the bookstore chain she managed, and sent him a second letter requesting he release some of her funds. She'd been furious when he'd refused the divorce, citing certain mysterious reasons that he refused to divulge, but while he still controlled her money she had to dance to his tune and she'd not mentioned divorce again, instead once more asking for a certain amount of her money to be released to her. The letter she'd received today had been his answer to that request. Spend one month back in Tokyo, and then he'd give her the money. She had no choice but to agree. Once she turned twenty-five, though, and her accounts were turned over into her control she'd file for divorce herself the very next day and to hell with him and his 'reasons'.

She chuckled to herself, then. While she may have to go back to Tokyo for a time to see the bastard before he'd release the funds she needed to buy the chain she wished to, _he_ would be the one getting the surprise. Because after five years she was nothing like the frightened and socially awkward girl she'd been back then. She was a businesswoman, successful in her own right and much more experienced and worldly than she had been the last time he'd seen her– and truthfully, perhaps even a little jaded, thanks to him. The bottom line was that she was no longer anyone's fool.

That didn't mean that she was promiscuous; no, after her experiences with Sesshoumaru and his womanizing she'd remained single, in no hurry to involve herself with any male again. If he'd taught her one thing it was that the male of the species – human or youkai, it made no difference - were not to be trusted.

As the next few days passed by and she prepared herself for her unwanted trip, she worked late every night so that she could leave with no work left unfinished for her boss, the current owner of the bookstore chain she was being given the chance to buy. She wasn't about to allow Sesshoumaru's high-handed demands to inconvenience anyone else, even if they did her. She was actually pretty sure that he hadn't even realized that his insane demands _had_ inconvenienced her, not that he would care if he had realized it, but it would never occur to him that the young, lonely, and awkward girl he'd known had grown into anything useful. He probably thought she lived off of the middling allowance he sent her every month.

She didn't. Every dime he sent her went into a savings account; if this business opportunity had come along even six months later she wouldn't have had to ask Sesshoumaru to release any of her other money. She'd never used what he sent her every month like clockwork. From the moment she'd landed here in Auckland she'd found herself a job and worked her way up from there. It occurred to her to wonder what he thought of her suddenly asking for some lump sum of money to invest in a business venture. And then she laughed – he probably thought it was some gigolo that had fooled her into thinking he was a businessman, since he seemed to think she was a foolish air-head that could do no more than sit on her allowance and languish in the city waiting for some well-heeled man to pick up her tab.

_Won't he be surprised, _she thought with heavy irony. _He thinks me as stupid as his erstwhile 'lovers'. Then again, he seems to have a low opinion of all women... except his beloved Kagura, of course. And Rin._

After he'd married her in a rather rushed and meaningless ceremony just a few days after her father's death, he'd taken her back to live at his overly large estate where his mother had moved in soon after his former wife's death to help him care for his then-young daughter, Rin. In her mind the place had been ostentatious and overdone, but that was apparently how high-society flew – she much preferred a more refined, understated tastefulness in her decor. She supposed some might call her a minimalist, but really she just wanted to be comfortable in her home, not live in a cluttered, overdone, huge mausoleum of a mansion.

But the disturbing thing about it was that the place had been kept as a shrine to his dead wife, as she found out within moments of arriving at her new – and unwanted - home. Everything was as it had been when Kagura was alive, and as she found out the hard way, _nothing_ was allowed to be changed. The only rooms that she had been allowed to decorate to her tastes had been the suite of rooms she'd been given that had been connected to his.

She frowned, setting aside the last bit of work she'd needed to finish before leaving in the morning as her mind wandered back to those nightmare months in that house. That was something she hadn't understood then, and still didn't understand to this day.

When they'd left her family's shrine after the morning marriage she'd been subjected to, she'd expected what every girl did when they were married – that he'd be collecting on his conjugal rights. She'd been horribly mortified when he'd glared haughtily at her when she'd tentatively brought it up, saying that she was just a child and he didn't sleep with children. So she'd been stunned when his mother had taken one look at her when she'd walked in the door and wrinkled her nose as though catching a whiff of something rancid, suggesting that she be put in a room in a different wing of the mansion and he'd glared the woman into submission with an almost acid dislike in his eyes, ordering that her things be placed in the rooms adjoining his.

When she'd found out initially that he had been married once before and even had a daughter, she'd been surprised and rather put off, especially when his mother began her campaign of psychological torture from the moment her son had walked her in the door, always comparing her to Kagura, to her constant detriment. It turned out that Kagura had been her goddaughter, and she'd adored the woman to the point of worship. When she'd died, she, Satori, had been as devastated as her son was, and she was aghast – and enraged – when he'd returned from a business trip with a child-bride, business partner's daughter or not and marriage of convenience notwithstanding.

It was then that she'd asked to be moved into a smaller room somewhere else in the mansion, herself, only to be angrily rebuffed by a male that was almost always cold and seemingly viciously hateful. She'd been completely stunned and even frightened when he'd turned on her and denied her request to move rooms in furious and impassioned tones she'd never heard from him until that very moment. A day or two later he'd coolly cornered her and asked why she wished to move rooms; angry, confused, frightened and miserable herself by that time, she'd answered in a curt voice that she didn't wish to live in rooms that his beloved wife had and that were still set up as a living shrine to her. He had coldly informed her that the rooms he'd shared with his dead wife had been in a different wing of the mansion, and that she could do what she wished with the rooms she was in.

She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose with sore fingers, her memories wearing her down. She was truly tired, and tomorrow and the next month that he was insisting she spend in Tokyo were going to be just as tiring, if not more so. He was one of the most complicated people she'd ever known, and she couldn't wait for the next month to be over. Hopefully after that he'd leave her alone and she'd never have to see him again. Finishing up her last bit of work, she let her mind continue wandering as she headed home.

Sesshoumaru was almost impossible to read. Most of the time of their year-long marriage he had been distant and cold, and there would be entire weeks on end where she wouldn't see him at all. When he did bother to show his face he could be quite mean, and there were days where she went out of her way to stay away from him herself. But then, very occasionally and confusingly, he would defend her – and when he did it he was _vicious_ about it.

Several times he'd caught his mother in some bit of cruelty towards her and he'd nearly kicked her out of his home, the row that would start from him reprimanding her for her words nearly deadly enough to bring the house down around their ears.

And then there were the parties. Kicking off her shoes as she slipped into her apartment quietly, not wanting to wake Sango, she couldn't help the tight-lipped expression that took over her normally mobile, warm features. She had hated those parties with more vehement animosity than she'd ever felt towards anything else.

Time and time again she was humiliated to the point she couldn't even speak; she'd been raised on a shrine with a father she'd loved in a distant way and a mother who she'd adored, though she'd lost her far too soon. The point was, she'd never seen anyone behave the way members of society appeared to. All too often, those who took such delight in tormenting her were to be seen in the news, smiling and trying their best to look like honorable, down-to-earth people with humble hearts and charitable natures towards their fellow man. Or youkai, as the case may be.

And all of it was nothing but lies. All of them were nasty, petty, bitter, haughty and narrow-minded people that enjoyed bullying an innocent seventeen year old girl, making her life so miserable that it finally came down to fight or flight. She'd chosen flight. It was the only way for her to survive.

She'd never forget the smirks, the superior looks and the cruel laughter from the crimson-painted lips of the women, the talk of her husband's newest flavor-of-the-week. And even though her marriage wasn't a normal marriage in the traditional sense, she couldn't help but think that if he was going to play a male whore, he could at least have been a bit more discreet about it – or at least not forced her to attend those stupid parties, where he would abandon her the moment they walked in to go talk business with the men – or disappear into some back room or pool house with the current piece of ass.

And as yet another bitch would stalk her to needle her some more, her bitterness would begin to peak – and then he'd appear, apparently feeling magnanimous after getting laid while everyone drank and gossiped and she hid as best she could in a dark corner, and turn her world upside down by confronting whichever bitch it happened to be at that particular party and biting her head off. Then he would sweep her home and let her cry her frustrated rage and hurt and humiliation out on him. He'd force her to, actually, pulling her to him and rocking her a little until it would all burst out of her, and he would even take her bitter, angry and hateful words about himself and simply say nothing, thrumming some soothing cadence from his chest to calm her down. How ironic to be comforted by the cause of your pain. It was as hypocritical as a medieval torturer taking his victim off the rack and then holding them and soothing them and acting sympathetic to their agony.

Eyes shadowed, she quietly shut the door to her room and immediately began to undress. She needed as much sleep as she could get before having to go back to the scene of her hellish fake marriage and face her chief tormenter.

This time, though, they would be on even ground. She was no longer a sheltered teenager with no experience or class.

And by the time he was through playing whatever game it was that he was playing this time, she'd walk away from him just as coolly as she'd walk towards him tomorrow evening when he arrived at the airport to pick her up.

He would be the one left grasping for balance on uneven ground, not her.

With that pleasant thought warming her she rolled herself into her blanket and drifted off to sleep.

~oOo~

Sighing with a touch of nostalgic sadness, Kagome looked out the window of the plane at the city of Tokyo, not realizing how much she'd missed it until just this very moment. Despite the cruel and mocking high society people she'd been forced to deal with after her marriage, she'd been happy when younger – just another average schoolgirl living on one of Tokyo's more well-known shrines. Her family had tended that shrine for generations, and she'd been proud of that, planning on continuing that tradition when she grew into the fullness of her reiki and her stature as an adult.

But then her father had died and her world had been upended in the most vicious and painful way, leaving her living in a hell she'd had no way of coping with. She still didn't understand her erstwhile 'husband's' actions at all during that horrible year – or the fact that he still refused to give her the divorce she'd asked for.

Eyes pensive as the plane came in for a landing, all those painful memories came flooding back over her again – as well as the humiliating and rending truth that she'd hidden from everyone and even from herself for so long – that the reason she'd tried so hard to grow up fast in the beginning of her marriage and become just like his dead wife was because she'd been bowled over by the beautiful youkai she'd been married to – and had fallen hard with her seventeen year old innocent teenager's heart.

Her lips twisted bitterly at that thought – he'd certainly managed to turn that innocent love into hatred and fear. After all this time that hatred had softened to cool dislike and mistrust – but she sighed again with the knowledge that it wouldn't take much to revive that hatred. He'd just done too much damage, and she grimaced with the silent admittance that some of that bitterness was aimed at her father – he had to have known what his friend and business partner was like and yet he'd basically thrown her to the proverbial wolf – and all just because he didn't want some gigolo to get his hands on the money he was leaving behind?

The plane landed with a jolt which drew her attention back to her surroundings, and firmly putting that past away and locking it up in a dark corner of her mind, she drew her usual cool poise around her like armor and checked her watch.

_Right on time, _she thought with satisfaction. _Sesshoumaru was always such a stickler for being on time, so that's one less thing he will be able to look down on me for._

She wasted no time on disembarking; heading directly for baggage claim she took hers as soon as they arrived and headed for a restroom for a quick chance to refresh her hair and light makeup and to make sure her clothes weren't too wrinkled. She could not afford to give the bastard any ground, anything that he could use against her in any way.

A few minutes later, satisfied that she still looked professional and collected, she left the restrooms and headed for the airport coffee shop where he was supposed to meet her. Fortunately, the shop was not overly crowded at this time of night and she was able to get herself a drink and find a seat to await Sesshoumaru's arrival.

After about ten minutes with no Sesshoumaru in sight, she looked at her watch again and her brow rose – the male who was always so adamant about arriving at precisely the time he'd given... was late. _So after demanding my presence in a high handed and haughty manner, he can't even have the courtesy to arrive on time? _

Firmly putting the arrogant son of a bitch out of her mind before she could get angry all over again she sat back, crossing her long, slim legs and delicately picking up her cup to take a careful sip of her hot tea. Her attention was drawn by a young couple, obviously weary from travel and needing a pick-me-up – she watched as the man carefully assisted his tired significant other to a seat and then took her order before shuffling tiredly up to the counter to place said order.

_Lucky woman, _she thought... but only for a moment, and then her hard-won cynicism caught up with her and she dismissed the thought. _Enjoy it while you can, because sooner or later things will change. Males aren't to be trusted – because one day they'll turn on you and you won't know what hit you._

"Kagome," a well-remembered smooth baritone murmured just at that point, and with firm control she turned to look coolly up at the male that had so cruelly ruined her younger years.

Her heart skipped a beat painfully as she took him in; in that moment she was glad that she'd learned to control her reiki, because she was able to hide those little indicators of stress from the arrogant beast that was standing before her with an odd little half-smile on his elegant face.

"Sesshoumaru," she acknowledged just as smoothly, once again checking her watch – this time with a pointedly cocked brow at his late entrance.

"I had something that I couldn't get away from," he said, openly looking her over as she stood and reached for her baggage cart.

She shot him an amused glance at that. "Or is that some_one_?" she rebutted lightly, ignoring his proffered hand and pulling her own cart behind her as he turned with an ironic little incline of his head and began to lead the way out of the shop.

"Are you insinuating something, my dear, long-lost wife?"

"Come on, Sesshoumaru, I haven't forgotten what you're like. There is _always_ a someone with you."

"Jealous?" he asked.

She laughed outright. "Not hardly. And we both know that I'm not really your wife, so please, don't bother with playing the devoted husband. It's not as if I'm still a child-bride with wide eyes and an innocent view of the world. The niceties coming from you never meant anything much, anyway," she dismissed derisively.

Not looking at him, she missed the angry flash of cat-slit golden eyes as she followed him absently through the airport parking garage to his car. "It seems you've grown some fangs since you've been gone, Kagome," he said, his voice dangerously soft; where once she would have instantly been drenched in fear, knowing what that softness presaged, now she simply wasn't impressed.

"It had to happen sometime," she shrugged carelessly, coming to a stop behind him as he used his keyfob to open the trunk of the expensive car he owned. Once again ignoring his silent attempt to lift her luggage into the trunk, she loaded her own things and then stepped back to wait for him to close it.

He did so, and then simply looked at her through hooded eyes for a long moment. "How independent you've become, little girl – it seems you've done quite a bit of growing up down there in Auckland. One wonders how many teachers you've had," he said insinuatingly.

Eyes going coldly amused, she flicked dismissive fingers at him. "I don't need a man to teach me anything. Whatever poise and professionalism I've gained since I've been away from Tokyo was learned the hard way – the _right _way. Now, are we going to stand here in a parking garage and try to slice each other to little pieces with soft insinuations and cutting insults, or are we going to get a move on? It has, after all, been a long day, and I would like to find my bed."

At that, a dangerous smirk twisted his firmly molded and aristocratic lips. Even as he unlocked the doors with another press of a button, he shot her a rather lascivious look through suddenly hot eyes. "Already speaking of beds, are we, Kagome? Is that a Freudian slip? If so, I would not be averse to you finding _my_ bed."

That was just too much for Kagome; eyes going flatly angry as she climbed into the passenger side, she turned to look at him as he slid into the seat beside her. "I'm not here to play games with you, Sesshoumaru. Have you already worked through every female – available or not – here in Tokyo? Trust me when I say that your bed is one place I have absolutely _no_ ambition of visiting – I'm no notch on any male's headboard. I have much, much more class than any of these females flaunting their wares on the society scene here in Tokyo – and no man can buy me," she finished, her eyes flashing warningly at the fascinated male beside her.

The car remained silent for a few minutes as he started it and backed out of the space he'd taken before smoothly shifting into drive and accelerating through the garage to the entrance. Flicking his turn signal on carelessly at the stop sign, he merged easily with traffic and began heading for the outskirts with practiced ease.

Once they were on the expressway, he spoke, his voice coldly authoritarian – the wealthy businessman and aristocrat had come to the surface. "What is it that you needed the money you requested for? Some shady 'business deal' a sly gigolo has convinced you is your ticket to the easy life?"

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you, Sesshoumaru?" she asked, her voice just as coldly businesslike as his own. "If you must know, I have been offered the chance to buy a bookstore chain in Auckland."

"And have you even seen any proof that this bookstore chain exists other than on paper?"

"Why yes," she murmured poisonously sweetly, "I have. Every day that I go to work as the manager of said bookstore chain. It is quite a lucrative business, and has always operated in the black. Anything else you wish to insinuate about my intelligence level, hmm?"

He shot her a surprised look beneath lowered brows. "You... work?"

Her mouth tightened at his obvious surprise. "That surprises you, doesn't it? I'm not some wastrel female hanging on a rich husband to avoid doing so. I _have_ worked since the day I landed in Auckland five years ago after leaving you and this false and hateful city," she snapped, her temper heating once again.

He frowned, his eyes narrowing moodily in the low light of the car's instrument panel. "What have you done with the money I have been sending you every month?"

"Nothing," she replied flatly. "I have never used a dime of your conscience money. It's all sitting in the same account you have insisted on wiring it into for the past five years. From what I understand it's actually a tidy little sum now – not that it matters. And if this business offer had come just a few months later I wouldn't have even needed to contact you at all. If it would have given me the ability to avoid having to communicate with you, and even better avoid having to see you, I would have gone ahead and used it and you could have just taken it out of the funds that father left me. Since I really don't want your money – or anything else of yours, for that matter."

Her answer didn't please him; it was quite clear from the low growl it ripped from his throat.

Kagome really didn't care.

"Do you hate me so much?" he asked after a moment to get his own temper under control.

"Hate you?" she murmured after a moment. "No. I don't hate you. I don't feel anything for you at all except irritation that you have refused my request for a divorce."

"And I will keep doing so," he shot at her, his eyes flaring redly for a moment.

His temper rising cooled her own, and she shrugged. "Whatever," she replied. "In two more years you won't have a choice – I reach my majority and my money reverts into my hands. Make no mistake – the very next day I will file for divorce myself."

"Make no mistake," he parodied her with a growl, "I will fight you every step of the way – which means it would take another five years to get your divorce."

Frustrated with his intransigence on this subject, her voice rose sharply in the enclosed space. "Why are you so determined to keep a fake wife that doesn't even live in the same country as you do?!"

And that's when all her nightmares came to life as he said coolly, "Because this month I have demanded you spend here is to effect a reconciliation." He shot her a determined look out of hotly burning golden eyes. "You won't be going back to Auckland again, Kagome – it's time you came home – I've been as patient with you as I intend to be. Your days of freedom are over."

~oOo~

A/N: And welcome to my new Sess/Kag, everyone. Please be patient with me as I try to catch up on a year and a half of writer's block! I only have the next chapter written and no further, so this might move a teeny bit slowly at first.

Nonetheless, I hope you all enjoy it, since it is an odd departure for me. I'm not much usually for modern day A/U stuff, since I live in this world and it sucks. I like to keep my fantasy world just that, lol, not anything based out of this reality. But this was just begging to be written, so I finally obliged.

Amber


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Kagome woke slowly, almost unwilling to leave her dream world behind only to return to a real world that had instantly become her idea of hell - what with Sesshoumaru's revelation of his reasons for demanding she return to Tokyo.

_Effect a reconciliation? How can you 'reconcile' a marriage that was only ever in name only? Who the hell does he think he's fooling? _She shook her head, her eyes narrowing as she rubbed the sleep out of them and sat up, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. _There has to be something else going on. It's not like we were ever a couple. _"Maybe one of his plethora of women has gotten out of hand and is demanding marriage, and since he's already technically married, flaunting me under the woman's nose is his response?" she murmured, but then shook her head again in frustration. No... Sesshoumaru wasn't the type to ever respond to anyone's 'demands', so that scenario made no sense.

"So what could it be?" she wondered aloud, seriously frustrated and terribly angry that he had the nerve to demand such a thing from her. She wasn't in any way his fool; she was absolutely positive he hadn't spent the last five years celibate and longing for her. No... he probably had a bitch of the week right this very minute. His words just made absolutely no sense whatsoever.

With a small, irate growl she pushed the blankets aside and climbed from the bed to head for the shower, knowing that the bastard would soon be arriving to begin his annoyance of her and wanting to be fully armored against him. She glanced around her at the rooms she was in with a slight frown and a bit of a shudder; they were the same rooms she'd been given when she'd first been forced to move into this mansion, and it looked as if nothing had been touched since the day she'd left other than to be cleaned.

The closets were even still full of all her old clothes, which she found oddly creepy – it was like this room had been left as a shrine to her, and she didn't like how that thought made her feel. This mansion already had a shrine to someone, and it still felt and looked like a mausoleum. She wanted no part of it and didn't want_ it _to have any part of her, as odd as that might sound to someone not in the know.

She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at sight of the bathroom, however; it was the one place in this moldy old pile that she'd loved and she was more than willing to take advantage of it during her forced time here.

_It doesn't matter what Sesshoumaru's angle is in trying to 'effect a reconciliation', _she thought with a snort as the hot streams of water began hitting her back, soothing her tense muscles. _He can try all he wants – but he can't force me to stay with him, and I'll hold him to his words – once this month is up I'm gone. _

Feeling much better after her shower, Kagome picked out a casual yet elegant dress from the clothes she'd packed and dressed carefully, the blue-green colors of the flowing material suiting her coloring and bringing out the blue of her eyes and making them sparkle. Slipping her tiny feet into a pair of matching sandals and pairing the outfit with her favorite opal earrings and ring, she left the room and closed the door, pausing for a moment as she tried to remember which way would take her to the kitchen – she was a bit hungry and a cup of coffee would be most appreciated, as well.

With a shrug, unable to remember for sure which way she needed to go she finally chose a direction and headed down the hallway, knowing that sooner or later she would either find her way or run into one of the servants and could then simply ask for directions. While the mansion was undoubtedly worth a great deal of money and was nice enough, Kagome wasn't impressed. It was pretentious and a waste, as far as she was concerned. After all, why would Sesshoumaru, his mother, and Rin need such a huge place to live?

She personally preferred a smaller, more intimate and comfortable home – something that was a true home and not just a showcase for a person's wealth. She just wasn't one to flaunt her assets – any of them.

It took a few minutes but she finally found the kitchen, with the cook already ensconced within and making coffee cake that smelled delicious to Kagome's suddenly starved pleasure. She was a friendly but efficient woman, and it wasn't long before she was sitting along the kitchen bar, sipping her coffee and trying out a piece of that wonderful smelling breakfast pastry, chatting amiably all the while.

The easy atmosphere was ruined, however, when the aura of the second person that lived in this mansion and had ruined Kagome's life the first time around entered the kitchen with her nose in the air and a click of her heels.

Kagome watched evenly as the woman stopped at sight of her and her lips tightened. "So the fool has managed to entice you to return, has he?" she said, her expression one of spoiled dissatisfaction as she looked her up and down. "I see you've been spending your allowance well, at least – I never thought I'd see the day you learned to dress correctly."

A faint, amused smile tilted Kagome's lips. "Allowance? You have the same blinders on that your son did. I haven't touched one drop of that allotment, it's still sitting in the bank. I work for my income, thank you very much."

Satori smiled condescendingly. "I somehow doubt that a waitress' salary could have afforded that dress," she returned, looking down her nose at the girl that her son had dared to replace Kagura with. She'd never understood why and Sesshoumaru had always refused to discuss the matter with her.

A chuckle left Kagome's lips. "I'm sure it would be out of reach for a waitress," she said dismissively, picking up her cup of coffee and thanking the cook for the food and conversation. Just as she was about to leave the room - a narrowly glaring Satori staring her way - Sesshoumaru stepped through the door, looking first at Kagome in her lovely summery dress and then at his sour-faced parent.

"Mother," he said, his voice cold and heavy with warning, "you had best keep your claws sheathed and out of Kagome, are we clear?"

Before the other woman could say anything Kagome laughed nonchalantly and continued on out of the room with an inward sigh for the drama being played out in front of the cook. "I don't need you to rescue me from your mother, Sesshoumaru. I can take care of myself quite well. An embittered, soured, and unhappy female who feels the need to assert her standing with everyone around her by being snide and bitchy is of little concern to me, after all," she finished, paying no heed to the gasp of outrage from Satori, or the surprise in her erstwhile husband's gaze. Without paying one bit more attention to either of them she stepped outside onto the patio and looked over the grounds.

The gardens were still the same, still immaculate and extensive, and Kagome decided to go for a walk through them with the idea that the more she could avoid the unhappy people living in this place the easier this whole mess would be. If she could avoid Sesshoumaru's company for most of the next month then she could get back on a plane and go back home to Auckland and file this whole thing away - and never think about it again.

~oOo~

"Kagome."

The young woman stiffened for a brief moment as she heard the voice of her worst nightmare, then continued to sniff the rose she'd been drawn to as though she weren't bothered by his presence. She'd managed to spend most of the morning outside and away from the rest of the people around here, and it was getting close to noon already, she was surprised to find. It was just too bad Sesshoumaru was here now to annoy her and ruin her momentary peace.

"Yes?" she asked pointedly after a moment when he didn't speak.

"We have a party to attend this evening after an early dinner, so you should head back to the house and get a nap in before it's time to get ready, because it will be a late night," he responded with a cynical twist to his lips that Kagome could hear in his voice.

She shuddered inwardly, but outwardly she just chuckled as she stood up and turned to meet Sesshoumaru's gaze. "Another party? Don't you ever get tired of them? I'd think by now you'd have become bored with chasing the bitch of the week through yet another pointless get together." She sighed lightly and shook her head. "Do I really have to go? It's not like you actually need me there – after all, I'm sure you've attended plenty of these parties since I've been gone. I'd much prefer to spend my time in the gardens – at least here I can still exercise my mind."

Sesshoumaru's lips twisted further into a sharp smirk. "Did you really think I would let you hide here in the gardens for the entire month, my dear? While I'm sure you would prefer it," he mocked, "that doesn't suit my ends at all – and since it's my ends that count you'll just have to deal, my lovely little wife." He paused, and then said, "And as for your little dig about chasing some bitch, you should watch what you say... you might just start sounding jealous."

Kagome's eyes hardened. "Not hardly. I could care less what you do – in fact, if you're busy chasing some other woman you can hardly be trying to shove this farcical 'reconciliation' idea of yours down my throat. So please, be my guest," she shot back.

"Farcical?" he murmured questioningly, one elegant black brow cocked haughtily. And then he chuckled. "Do not delude yourself, Kagome. There is nothing farcical about this. It will happen, so you had best accustom yourself to the idea, and quickly, my love," he said tauntingly, his eyes going heavy-lidded as he looked the bristling woman in front of him over with hot eyes, "for I don't intend to wait for very much longer to collect on my long-overdue 'wedding night'."

And for the second time in less than twenty-four hours Kagome stared at her nemesis with shock, her aghast and horrified eyes seeming to almost amuse him.

~oOo~

_Wedding night. Huh. As if I'd ever let someone who's the male equivalent of a whore touch me!_

Kagome was fuming. Sesshoumaru's suggestive statement and hint towards the fact that they'd never consummated their marriage and that he was intending to 'remedy' that particular oversight simply enraged her. And embarrassed her a little bit, too. Because there was no denying the crush she'd had on the bastard back then, and that she'd been expecting him to demand his conjugal rights made her blush like hell now that she was looking back at the incident from several years and much maturity away.

Her anger rose even further as her memories took her back through that humiliating night when she'd dared to bring the matter up and he'd practically laughed at her with such contempt on his face while letting her know in no uncertain terms that he had no intentions of touching a child. He'd acted as though she disgusted him, and that night had made such an impression on her that she'd not allowed another male to get anywhere close to her in all the years since. Trust towards the male of the species, human or youkai was not something she had any longer, and after Sesshoumaru's treatment of her she didn't miss that commodity at all.

She'd only been seventeen when he'd wed her and a complete innocent, but she'd learned that very night that he was a cold, unfeeling bastard that was only fulfilling his need to gain more wealth. By marrying her he took control of her fortune, and that ostensibly left her at his mercy.

Unfortunately he didn't have any, as she'd found out the hard way over the next nightmarish months.

So how dare he now act as though she were a runaway bride and he'd treated her with patience and kindness while waiting for her to return – to act like they had been a true couple and it had been her own doubts and fears that had interrupted what their new lives together should have been? She hadn't been the one constantly hurting and humiliating him by running around with other men! And she certainly hadn't been the one allowing a bunch of vicious, shallow hypocrites to torture him over the matter, either! Just who did he think he was to treat her that way and then expect her to run into his arms just because he'd decided he needed her around for some damn reason he wouldn't even speak of?

Well, he was in for a big surprise, she huffed to herself as she readied herself for this 'party' he was about to subject her to. And she could just bet that those same vultures that had so enjoyed tormenting her those few short years ago would be quite eager to try the same things when she appeared at this function at Sesshoumaru's side. They were all in for big surprises, because she wasn't that same frightened and intimidated young girl she'd been before.

Now she could hold her own – in fact, she would conquer their spite and turn all their bitter nastiness right back around on them.

She wasn't anybody's whipping boy anymore.

It was time to turn the tables and show them what she was made of – and that included that damned arrogant daiyoukai she'd been forced to marry.

~oOo~

Grimly determined to impress on everyone that had ever dared to lash out at her and gorge themselves on her pain and humiliation that she was no longer anyone's fool, Kagome readied herself for the get-together she was being ordered to attend with a vicious grin as she finished brushing her lips with a light gloss of color and set the tube aside to look herself over with a satisfied nod.

Make-up finished, she twisted her hair into several positions looking for a complimentary style. After a few different ones she decided on an elegant braided bun, with a lock of hair being left loose to frame her delicate face on each side and a whisp of bangs completing the look.

Blue eyes framed by a sweep of black eyeliner met their twins in the mirror with a pleased smirk. "Those bastards won't know what hit them," she swore. "And Sesshoumaru most of all. I don't know what his game is, but I'm going to win it. And this is just the start. When this next month is up he'll be glad to let me go." She nodded to herself firmly and then turned away and picked up her dress from where she'd laid it out.

An elegant little black dress, it could be dressed up or down. She loved its simple classiness, and when she slipped it on she couldn't help the smirk widening into a smile of satisfaction as it flowed into place just perfectly. She smoothed the mid-thigh hem against the silky skin of her leg and then looked around for her heels.

Slipping her shoes on, Kagome stepped lightly over to her jewelry box and opened it reverently. There wasn't much inside the large box yet, but the pieces that were there had been chosen by her with much care, every gem inside real and worth quite a bit of money. Gently she withdrew the brilliant sapphire pendant, ring, and matching earrings.

They had been chosen specifically because they were almost perfect matches for her eyes. A bright, brilliant blue with no gray to dull them, they were probably her most beautiful feature. Ringed by inky lashes and lined with kohl, those eyes were made even brighter by the contrast with the uncompromising black.

She grinned when she looked in the mirror at the finished product, more than pleased. She was going to knock a lot of people off their pedestals this evening. She glanced behind into the bedroom at the clock, wondering at the time - it felt like they should be due to leave soon. For some reason Sesshoumaru wanted to have an early dinner at one of his pretentious clubs before heading for the party that would already be in full swing by the time he intended to arrive.

_He always was a drama queen, _she thought with irreverent amusement at his sometimes almost prissy ways. The male couldn't ever just arrive somewhere quietly - no, he always had to make an entrance, which usually meant being late.

With a deep inhale of breath to fortify herself for the difficult evening to come she picked up her matching clutch, opened her door and stepped out of her room, this time turning right to head for the grand staircase that led to the front entrance of the house. She truly hoped the bastard was waiting there in the two story entrance for her - she'd certainly give him something to remember if he was.

_Yes! _she thought triumphantly as she rounded the corner of the hall leading to the stairs. Sesshoumaru was standing at the bottom looking at his watch a little impatiently. Deliberately making a little noise she walked gracefully to the top of the stairs and then with a casual elegance she hadn't been capable of the last time he'd seen her come down said stairs she walked lightly down the steps, one hand sliding along the banister as she descended. Her head was held high and proud in a manner he'd never seen from her until he'd walked into that airport coffee shop and there she was.

And despite the fact that her heart thumped just a little when she saw him, his fair beauty not having changed a whit in the last five years and only accentuated by the easy way he wore his slightly dressed down suit, she was pleased with the look on his face - he was staring at her enigmatically, but she knew him well enough to know that look on his face meant he was trying very hard to hide something.

That meant that she'd succeeded in stunning him with the fullness of her transformation from the frightened child-bride of five years ago to the capable, worldly, and strong adult she now was.

"So where are we going for this early dinner you informed me I had to attend?" she asked lightly as she stepped down onto the marble of the entrance hall floors and stopped before the daiyoukai. "Didn't you say it was one of your clubs?"

Sesshoumaru turned to pick up her coat from where the servant had left it but was beaten to it by Kagome as she completely ignored his outstretched hand and lifted it, sliding her arms into its soft but elegant warmth without his assistance. As soon as the coat was on she was moving towards the door as though she'd forgotten about him. His mouth turned down as she paused and looked back with an arched brow when he didn't immediately crowd her.

"Cat got your tongue, Sesshoumaru?" she prodded with a slightly smug smile before continuing on her way without waiting for him.

"Just a little surprised at your lack of manners," he shot at her as they reached the door and it was opened by the butler. He motioned mockingly to the car waiting for them, and Kagome smiled coolly at him and stepped over to the passenger side. However, before she could open her own door Sesshoumaru did, with a smile full of irony at her displeased expression.

After an explosive moment she slid into the seat without argument. When he shut the door and then rounded the car to get in on the driver's side Kagome answered his previous assertion. "Lack of manners?" she chuckled dryly. "Is that the best you've got? Don't strain yourself, Sesshoumaru," she finally said dismissively at his continued silence. "We both know a gentleman isn't something you are - it's just a facade you play with in the public eye once in a while to make it look good. I don't really expect anything much since I know the real you, so you may as well not bother trying so hard to impress when I'm the only one around. Wait to start your act until we're in front of those who live the same lie you do in front of the world everyday."

There was a dangerous moment as Sesshoumaru maneuvered the car down the long driveway with an expert hand, one that truthfully had Kagome on high alert - not that she'd ever give the bastard the satisfaction of knowing that. She waited on pins and needles for his response, hating the whole situation but having no choice but to play along.

"You've grown sharp little claws since you've been away, kitten," he finally said silkily as he glanced at her from the corner of one eye before turning his gaze back to the road. "But you're making a big mistake if you think a sharp tongue will keep me from getting what I want from you. I've had centuries to perfect my skills, and you, my dear, haven't had nearly as long to grow. You have no hope of escaping me, so you may as well give in to what I want. It would be much less stressful for you than trying for the impossible in what would be nothing but a losing battle for you," he finished condescendingly.

That sparked a bit of her temper; pink light glowing from her eyes as her reiko reacted to her anger she turned on him and let him have it with both barrels. "Despite your over-sized ego, Sesshoumaru," she spat, "you'll be the one on the losing end of everything if you insist on playing this stupid and pointless one-upmanship game with me. Never again will I allow you to put me in the positions you did before, always dancing to your tune. I'm not a frightened child missing her home and simple life any longer - I've been through the fire and it tempered me and forced me to grow up. So if you don't like what you're seeing then that's just too bad - because it was you that made me this way."

"Hn-" he began, only to be snubbed as she turned her head away to look out the darkened window of the car, her eyes going far away, back into the past that she remembered far too well. "You were the fire, you bastard," she breathed into the electric silence that had fallen with her refusal to look at him and deliberate rebuff. "And it's far too late to go back now and try to convince me that you really are a nice guy that just made a lot of mistakes and that I should give you a second chance. It's never going to happen."

"Never say never, Kagome... you should know that by now," he rejoined evenly. "And if you think telling me that I had a hand in creating the sophisticated and beautiful creature you've become is an insult, think again," he added with a self-satisfied chuckle. "I'm proud to have helped form something so stunning."

She narrowed her eyes on him, then looked away. "You would be, but believe me, it _wasn't_ a compliment," she said dismissively as she turned pointedly away and stared silently out her window again. She was determined to ignore him as much as possible for the rest of the night, and his quietly returned, "I'm well aware of that," dropped into the silence and fell flat as she refused to be drawn into yet more verbal warfare and sniping before she had to be.

There was no doubt in her mind that was exactly what she'd be facing sooner or later during the evening to come. If not from Sesshoumaru's mouth, then one of his various cronies and their wives and hangers-on would spit venom at her and she was more than willing to spit it right back, which wasn't something she'd known how to do five years ago. She wished she still didn't, wished that she had never learned of the hypocrisy, lies, cheating, and backstabbing that was so much a part of 'high society'. She'd much preferred the illusions of the rich and famous she'd had as a child.

They'd been so much less painful, so much prettier. _Damn, Kagome, put away the rose-colored glasses already. Haven't you had enough illusions painfully ripped away by this same bastard that sits next to you so easily as though you should welcome his presence with open arms?_

By the time Sesshoumaru murmured that they were approaching their first stop the sun was already westering towards the horizon. Her blue eyes darkened as the road they'd been following meandered through a bucolic area with neatly trimmed hedges and landscaped grounds towards a large, ostentatious-looking building set in the midst of the park-like grounds.

_They all look the same, don't they? _she thought tiredly as the evening to come suddenly weighed heavily on her. She'd much rather be staying in for a quiet night with a good book than the horrible one ahead of her.

As soon as the car came to a stop she unlocked her door and opened it, one dangerously long leg flashing those standing around outside with a lovely view as she stepped out of the car and shut the door behind her as the valet exchanged places with Sesshoumaru and carefully drove the expensive luxury car to an easily accessible area to park it.

Kagome wasn't in the least bit surprised to find she and the daiyoukai the focus of all eyes as they walked up the carpeted entrance and then inside the building, and her tension increased as she felt her flesh crawl at some of the looks she was getting from the men.

Reluctantly allowing the hostess to take her coat and clutch, Kagome examined the interior of the building. It was beautiful, which of course was the point - everything was top of the line here, designed to make the rich snobs it was built to cater to feel like they were better than everyone else. But its beauty left her cold, and she was uninterested and unimpressed.

Sesshoumaru, watching her carefully, smiled inwardly with a great deal of jaded cynicism. No, she was not impressed with a place that most women would kill to be invited to dine in. That was one thing about Kagome - she wasn't a social butterfly like most of the women of his social strata, and she never would be, either.

"Sir, madam, if you will follow me," the maitre'd said discreetly, and Sesshoumaru nodded as he took his wife's elbow and escorted her towards their table.

"What would you like to drink, Sesshoumaru-sama?" the man asked respectfully after they were seated.

"A plum wine, I think," the elegantly dressed daiyoukai murmured. "Domestic - perhaps aged a little. For my wife as well."

The man bowed but before he could leave Kagome addressed him with a distrustful look at Sesshoumaru. While the plum wine actually sounded good, she knew better. She needed to keep her wits about her. "Iced spring water with a lemon spritzer for me, instead," she said with a smile, and the man bowed again and assured them he would soon return with menus and their drinks.

"Plum wine so early?" she asked after a moment spent looking at him quizzically.

He smiled deprecatingly. "Perhaps I need the fortification," he said with a self-mocking tone she didn't miss.

"Huh," she huffed softly. "Not likely. But if by chance you are trying to get me to become complacent and let down my guard you've got another think coming."

"And maybe I am simply trying to enjoy a peaceful evening with my wife, did you ever think of that?"

"No," Kagome instantly rejoined, "because one, we both know I've never really been your wife, and two, there's no such thing as peace when you're around."

Sesshoumaru chuckled. "You think you know me so well," he said lightly as a waiter approached with their drinks and the promised menus. He watched through lowered lids as the young man expertly set Kagome's drink before her with a bow and then turned to place a wine goblet before him. Quickly popping the cork on the bottle of expensive looking plum wine, the waiter poured out a snifter and then set the bottle near him with another bow before leaving them to look over their menus.

"So why are we really here tonight?" Kagome asked after a moment spent looking over her menu.

"Besides to eat a meal?" he asked with a knowing smirk that widened at the censorious look she shot him. "Does there need to be any particular reason?"

"There's always a reason for everything you do," she pointed out, deciding on her choice of meal and setting the menu aside as she discreetly glanced around. Eyes were still plastered to them, and Kagome didn't have to have advanced youkai hearing to know that they were the main topic of conversation, as well. She shook her head. "I get it. This was all about being seen. Your sense of the dramatic certainly hasn't faded with age."

Sesshoumaru shrugged carelessly. "It's the most practical way to announce your return. There is very little that is faster than the societal grapevine, and I don't doubt that by tomorrow the fact that my long lost wife is back will be in the society columns of every paper in Japan."

She sighed and tapped her fingers daintily against the table. "What's really going on, Sesshoumaru? After five years you suddenly remember that you're technically married and decide you might as well try being a husband out?"

"I'm well aware of what it is to be married, Kagome," he murmured coolly. "Or have your forgotten that I've been in that state before?"

Her features froze. "No, but then, as you and your mother and everyone else always pointed out, I'm not Kagura. You loved your wife, but I'm not her as evidenced by your deplorable behavior when I lived here under your so-called 'protection' before. So since everyone in Japan knows that this marriage was never a love-match like your first, there has to be an angle. There's some reason you're doing this, and I'd just like to know what it is you're using me for."

Sesshoumaru shifted in his seat, his muscles coiling and uncoiling beneath his skin in agitation. The bitch was testing and taunting him at every turn, determined not to believe one word he'd said to her. His instincts were even now screaming at him to make her submit, and he was having a hard time holding back from doing just that. This would all be so much easier if she'd been his mate as well as his wife, but she'd been too young back then for something so dangerous as mating, so he'd been forced to wait. And wait he had - for five years. But his patience had run out and he'd finally had done with the waiting, so when she'd sent him a request for access to some of her money he'd seen it as the perfect chance and closed his trap around his little runaway bride.

But now that he'd gotten her back to Japan it looked as if the hardest work was still to come - getting her to give up and give in. And so he fought his feral desires back and continued to sit at his leisure and watch her through hooded eyes, not giving away his agitation by so much as the flicker of a heavily-lashed eye.

"There is no angle, Kagome. It is simple. You are my wife, legally wedded these past five years. And now that you've grown up and are no longer that same little girl, it is time to begin living as the married woman that you are - with all that the state entails," he added in a suddenly sultry voice, and the young woman sitting across from him blinked for a moment and then cleared her throat a little awkwardly.

"And I say I don't believe you. Oh," she added at the look he shot her, "I don't doubt that you'd climb into my bed in a hurry if I offered, since you can't seem to resist climbing into any female's bed pretty much indiscriminately. But I'm _not_ that indiscriminate, thank you very much, and it isn't going to happen. So the sooner you let me know what's really going on in that head of yours, the sooner we can get this done and go on with our separate lives."

Gold eyes glittered as he watched her with a predatory stillness that sent a shiver up Kagome's spine as soon as she spotted it. After several seconds of that intense, weighing gaze, he spoke. "Don't believe me, then," he said with a dangerously silky softness, "that will just make it easier for me to take you by surprise. But there's one thing you most definitely can believe - there are no more separate lives between you and I. And there never will be again."

Kagome stared at him with a faint frown in her eyes, a little uneasy with the intensity of his gaze and his insistence that there was no hidden desire behind his demand that she accept him as her legally wedded husband, with all that entailed. But if there was no ulterior motive... no, there had to be something else going on because he'd never lost any sleep over love for her, so there was no other reason for him to keep insisting on her living with him as his wife than some business-scheme or something along those lines. Maybe she should instead be asking him how much he was going to make by playing happy houses with her.

She found she was much more comfortable with that thought than even the _possibility_ that he was really after her for some god-forsaken reason like plain old lust.

There was no way she could handle that idea at all.

~oOo~

A/N: I apologize for the wait and lack of responses to the reviews for the first chapter of this story. Unfortunately, these last two weeks have not been good and that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. On top of that the reviews for this one chapter have been INSANE. There are 77 reviews just on ff dot net alone, and that doesn't even count the other sites I post on.

As well, my main laptop that's where everything is stored is out of commission until the computer people get back to me on what's wrong and I try to put money back to get it fixed. That's going to mean no posting on SR, and slowed posting on this and anything else as I work with what I have.

I hope no one gets angry about my not responding to the reviews on this story, because there's just too many for me to have time to answer. I do read them all, and as always I will answer questions.

Amber


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"So who's overly ostentatious mansion are we going to - or is it someone I don't know, someone new, perhaps?" Kagome asked lightly as they sped down the highway heading out of the city.

Sesshoumaru shot her a weighing glance from under hooded eyes, then returned his attention to the road. "The Yamashiro's. Although this is a new place; they've only lived there about a year and a half now," he replied evenly.

A pleased smile slipped across her lips, countered by an oddly cynical expression. "Ah. Well, at least I'll have something worthwhile to do while all the rest of you do whatever it is you do at these little festive get-togethers. I've no doubt that Emiko had extensive gardens put in." And then a disgusted mou crossed her face. "Then again... I'm sure if I did head for the gardens I'd be interrupting at least half a dozen trysts and I'd really rather not lose my dinner."

"Why such a terrible reaction, my dear?" Sesshoumaru asked as he smoothly switched lanes to pass a slower driver. "It's a natural pastime, don't you think?"

She looked at him aghast. "Did you really just ask me that? Seriously?! _A natural pastime_?" She shook her head. "You're just disgusting, Sesshoumaru. Were you this awful when you were with Kagura? Fucking every female available, since it _is_ just a pastime and doesn't mean anything?"

There was a sudden rise of youki and the daiyoukai turned reddening eyes on her. It actually took him a few moments to regain control of his throat muscles and then he said, "Never speak her name again, let alone with such a question behind it, do you hear me?" he thundered, his knuckles white with rage in the dim interior of the car.

A sharp spear of pain went through Kagome at his reaction, one she didn't understand in the least; rage followed in its wake and she latched onto it like it were a life-preserver. Rage was good, she could deal with feeling rage towards the bastard. But somewhere deep inside a tiny niggling voice wondered how it would feel to be the woman some man protected so viciously. And she couldn't help but wish for the same, though she knew she'd never have it. Because after what this bastard had done to her, she wasn't about to trust her heart to anyone. Never, ever again.

"Oh, right, I forgot - I can only keep breathing as long as I don't speak her name or say anything derogatory even peripherally about her." She rolled her eyes and waved a bored hand at him. "Whatever."

After that she refused to say anything more, turning her face pointedly away to look out the side window with distant eyes, refusing any conversational bait he tossed out. After a little while he sighed and gave up, glancing at her every once in a while with brooding eyes.

Kagome was frightfully pleased when they reached a high-end suburb and Sesshoumaru turned off onto an obviously private road that led to high, pretentious gates. The mansion that could just barely be seen at the end of the drive was lit up with lights and the party was obviously already in full swing. The gate guard cast a quick look in their direction as they came to a halt before them, and then opened the gates and motioned them through.

Nonetheless, she was also terribly keyed-up; this was it, this was where the first skirmishes against the high-society bigots that had tortured her so much was to take place. She wasn't afraid in the least, as some might surmise she would be. No... her fighting spirit was in full ascendancy now that she was a tried and tested adult, and these poor saps were about to find that out the hard way. She had the sudden urge to rub her hands together and cackle with evil glee, but with an inward giggle at what Sesshoumaru would do and say if she did she let the amusing thought slip away and calmed herself with a bit of deep breathing, instead.

She needed to be in top form tonight... the top form she'd struggled to achieve after leaving Tokyo in so many pieces she'd wondered if she'd ever be whole again. The top form she finally had achieved - a cynical, jaded, and world-weary woman who trusted almost no one. It was strange to see such an ancient sort of look in the eyes of someone so young and beautiful, and Sesshoumaru took that expression in as he got out of the car and came around to her side, the valet sliding into the seat he vacated as he waited to take the car around and park it.

His lips tightened as his gold eyes lingered over her features, though he didn't say anything, simply offering her a hand that she simply ignored as she had all his other gentlemanly gestures, climbing out on her own and looking around at the massive entryway to the showcase of a building they were getting ready to enter.

Like everything else in high society it wasn't really a house so much as a statement of just how wealthy the owners of this particular mausoleum were, and she hated it on sight - just like all the rest of them. It was pretentious and fake, exactly like the people living in it, and Kagome had no use at all for people of their type.

And she was going to prove it - she'd rock all their worlds before she was done.

She glanced back at a so-far silent Sesshoumaru and motioned for him to lead the way with a rather sarcastic expression, but when he tried to speak to her she simply ignored him and followed behind him silently as he returned her expression with a tight one of his own - that she also ignored.

Once inside, a maid stepped forward to take her coat and she slipped it off easily before Sesshoumaru could do it for her; she could tell by the thin line of his lips that her refusal of his mannerly gestures was getting to him. _Good. Let him get angry - if he tries to do anything about it he'll get the shock of his life, _she thought with a sense of supreme satisfaction just as their hosts came into sight. A dangerous smile just tilted the edges of her lips and only widened just that little bit more when the two paused in their steps as they saw her.

It was clear from the looks on their faces that they recognized her, and as Emiko's face took on a rather superior cast Kagome held herself ready with a certain deadly stillness that the other woman was too blinded and stupid to see.

"Well, well, well, Sesshoumaru... have you gotten bored with the women here in Tokyo and gone looking for something a little less... savory? I know that sometimes men have this strange need to slum it for a while," the older woman purred as she looked Kagome over with a haughty smile. "That must be why you married her in the first place."

Sesshoumaru's face darkened but before he could say anything he was deterred by the lilting laugh from his wife. He glanced sideways at her as she shook her head, her beautiful eyes sparkling with a certain glee he was quite suddenly certain they should _all_ be wary of.

There was one reason he'd attended this party, and one reason only - and that was to see just how Kagome handled herself with the people in his social strata. She'd already shown a marked lack of fear or even tension when dealing with him... and now he wanted to see the rest of what she'd become.

"Still just as spoiled, bitter, petulant, and bored with life as you ever were, I see," Kagome returned, though the other woman's comment had been directed at Sesshoumaru. She looked Emiko over with a cynical, rather superior smile of her own and then turned away. "What a pity," she added over her shoulder as she made her way into the room, the gaping Emiko and her husband forgotten almost as soon as she'd removed her gaze from them.

"Sesshoumaru, you'd best do something about her mouth," Emiko hissed once Kagome had disappeared into the crowd. "How dare she-!"

She was cut off as the daiyoukai raised a bored hand, his youki raising just a little as the two humans in front of him shrank back a little in fear. "You deserved it, Emiko," he said coldly. "And you aren't going to be the only one getting their just desserts, either, I don't think," he added with a definitely predatory smile.

He was so going to enjoy this...

"B-but why did you bring that woman back? She isn't part of our world - if you divorced her you could have your pick of eligible women that know the ropes and are welcome in our circles," Emiko protested.

"Yes, I'm a little curious about it, too," her husband piped up finally, looking back in the direction the gorgeous woman had disappeared. He didn't give a damn about her 'social strata' - but he certainly liked what she'd grown up to be. He could barely believe that beautiful, poised woman was the same awkward, shy, and uncertain girl Sesshoumaru had married those years ago.

Sesshoumaru was quite well aware of his host's sudden desire for his wife; he stilled, focusing solely on the human male daring to scent of lust over what belonged to him. "My reasons are my own, though they will eventually be known to all and sundry. But if you know what's good for you, you will stay away from her, Hide." He raised a hand and pointedly cracked his knuckles, the lights in the house glinting off of his lethally sharp claws. "It seems I'm no longer the only one in this marriage with very... _dangerous_ appendages - and the willingness to use them."

Hide swallowed hard and backed up a half-step, Emiko following him as she looked with wide eyes between the two men. When it occurred to her just what Sesshoumaru was warning her husband over she flushed an unbecoming red with jealousy and rage, and with a chuckle the daiyoukai walked away from the two, ignoring the mutters around him as Emiko practically dragged Hide away and into a side room for what he knew was going to be a nasty little fight.

_So far I'm impressed, Kagome... but then again, you were always strong - you just didn't know it... _

_Now you most certainly do, _he thought, pleased for the moment. He didn't give a damn who she pissed off, and was in fact eager to see her put all these people in their places. But then his pleased expression darkened a little. _ However... I need to teach her who is alpha in this marriage, and who is not. And I'm quite positive that is going to be the hardest battle of all - getting her to submit._

Sesshoumaru wasn't who he was for nothing, though, and the idea excited him, got his blood flowing for the chase to come. Now she was old enough and dangerous enough to take her place as his mate - a place she had always been meant for. And once she finally did submit to him his world would be complete... for the first time in his long, long life.

He could hardly wait. _Let the games begin, my lovely wife... let the games begin._

Grabbing a glass of wine from a passing waiter, Sesshoumaru followed the whispers in his wife's wake but stayed back far enough so that he could simply watch her engage the enemies, so to speak.

It looked as if her maiden voyage was going quite well as he watched her put yet another old biddy in her place with feral amusement.

Yes... it was most definitely time for her to stand at his side as the true Western Lady.

She was more than ready...

And he was done waiting.

~oOo~

"So you're the absentee wife," a feminine voice drawled, and Kagome turned around with a raised brow to examine the woman addressing her.

Dressed elegantly in an understated way, the woman was tall with a waterfall of dark hair that flowed down her back in a smooth sheet. She was quite attractive, but like all those that Kagome had met in the upper echelon, she had a slightly bored pout that gave away her true state of mind. Her eyes were cold, their rich brown dulled and jaded.

Kagome smirked and took a sip of her champagne. After a moment of looking each other over, she said, "Yes, and I'd like to keep being the absentee part of it while leaving the 'wife' portion behind, if you don't mind." She chuckled at the other woman's surprise. "Didn't expect that, did you? Well, here's another surprise for you - I can tell you're yet another one of Sesshoumaru's conquests, another notch on his headboard. If you want him so badly that you'd put up with his infidelity, you can have him." With that she raised her champagne glass in a rather jaunty salute to the gaping woman and walked off, supremely bored with the whole thing. Why couldn't there be at least one interesting person to talk to? It would have made this whole wasted evening at least tolerable.

She came to a stop at the end of the ballroom and leaned against the wall, watching with amusement as the entire gathering stared at her and gossiped about her sudden return.

"How'd a bastard like Sesshoumaru get his hands on a woman like you?"

Kagome turned her head to look at the person addressing her and smiled genuinely for the first time that night. "By hook and by crook," she responded to the handsome male with a light laugh. "You're hanyou," she said, noting the adorable fuzzy ears atop his head. "I'm surprised these stuck up bigots even invited you."

Golden eyes warmed and the male grinned engagingly. "Not like they have much of a choice."

She canted her head in curiosity. "And why is that?"

"Because my ass of an older brother won't allow any disrespect to his family - even if he does hate me. And so I get all these invitations, grudging as they are, while they all hope that I won't actually show up." He shrugged good-naturedly. "I usually don't, either. But with the rumors I heard about tonight's party, I couldn't pass up the chance to meet you."

"Why did you want to meet me?" she asked, a bit confused.

"Because I just had to see the woman that my bastard of a brother was going so crazy over," he responded lightly, enjoying the look of shock on her lovely face.

"Wait... Sesshoumaru's your..._ brother_?" she asked incredulously, her glass of champagne forgotten. "Why have we never met before?"

"Oh, that ass and I don't get along. He hates me because our father loved my mother, and of course his mother hates me for the same reason." He shrugged carelessly again, an engaging grin on his face that she couldn't help but reciprocate. "Not like I care. Anyway, I avoided Tokyo for a long time, and that's why I wasn't around when he married you." His grin widened as she blinked, obviously having a hard time taking what he'd told her in. "Oh, and the name's Inuyasha, by the way."

Kagome couldn't help it, she giggled. "Well, Inuyasha, my name is Kagome," she replied and stuck her hand out for him to shake, which he did, after which he bowed over it and kissed the back with old-fashioned, courtly manners. She blushed a little as he stood up and grinned back at him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Inuyasha. So what do you do here in Tokyo when not bothering with all these snobs?" she asked, more than curious about this brother of Sesshoumaru's - one she'd never even heard hinted about. There was no way he was making it up, though - while a little more rugged than her husband they definitely shared genes now that she was paying attention, and he was just as handsome in a different way - and seemed much more genuine than any of the other fake people around them.

That earned him a lot of points in her book.

He slouched back against the wall casually and his grin turned into a smile. "Business, what else? I own my own company - none of the bastard's money for me - I decided long ago that I'd either sink or swim, but I'd do it on my own. I wasn't about to become Sesshoumaru's little lackey for my part of our inheritance. It was hard work but worth it, because now I'm pretty much that ass' equal in the monetary realm, and he hates it. Anything that pisses him off pleases the hell out of me, though, so I'm good with it."

Kagome couldn't help it, she laughed helplessly, suddenly liking this male a whole lot. "Well, more power to you. Because I also love anything that makes Sesshoumaru angry, I'll be cheering you on all the way," she winked at him with a mischievous grin.

Inuyasha stared at her for a few moments, and then shook his head. "You are nothing like I imagined at all from the stories I'd heard about you," he said softly, a considering look in his eyes that she didn't miss. "I'm going to thoroughly enjoy watching you bring him to his knees, and if anyone can do it, it'd be you."

Flushing just a little at the masculine approval in his eyes, Kagome nodded. "It's too bad Sesshoumaru isn't as smart as you are, or he'd have left me alone in Auckland and signed the divorce decree without argument. I'm going to make him regret that mistake greatly before I'm done."

The biggest grin she'd yet seen on him split his face and lit his golden eyes. "You know, I think you and I are going to be great friends, Kagome. I'm seriously going to enjoy watching you take that bastard down."

"Sounds like great fun," she raised her suddenly-remembered glass in salute. "So do you have a home here in Tokyo?"

"Did," he grunted. "But it was destroyed in that last earthquake that came through, and I didn't bother rebuilding it. I've been staying in hotels... but I think I'm going to impose myself on my dear son-of-a-bitch brother. I want front row seats for this melee," he laughed.

Liking the idea of having an ally, nonetheless Kagome was confused. "But Sesshoumaru will never let you stay with him... will he?"

"He doesn't have a choice. It's all part of my father's will. I've never invoked it before, but for this, hell yeah!"

She considered the idea, and a wicked, wicked smile spread across her face. "His mother's going to have a conniption fit, you know. She's already quite enraged that I'm there, let alone you. Sounds lovely," she agreed happily. "That old bat made my life a living hell when I was younger, and it's definitely payback time."

The two grinned at each other, a little surprised that they'd taken to each other so easily, but Kagome had become a pretty good judge of character, and this guy was genuine... he'd also suffered at Sesshoumaru's hands, and as they say... the enemy of your enemy is your friend.

Draining the last of her champagne Kagome set her glass on a waiter's proffered tray and looked around for another waiter. The only good thing about these parties was the very high quality alcohol that was passed around, though she had no intentions of getting drunk. No, she was going to be clear-headed for the confrontations she could feel brewing. As soon as the women had drunk enough to gather their courage, that was.

"You know, Inuyasha, you should stick around." She waved a casual hand at the rest of the crowded ballroom. "Once these pointless women gain a little false courage they'll be after me and the fireworks will begin. And I've no doubt the bastard I'm unfortunately tied to will saunter on over once that happens - he always did enjoy the company of all the sharp-tongued harpies around here."

"Sounds like the most fun I've had in years," he raised his own glass in salute. "Count me in."

"I'd much rather count you out," came a frigid voice, and Kagome sighed, meeting Inuyasha's laughing gaze with a rueful one of her own.

"Well, there went the neighborhood. Couldn't you run off with one of your floozies and leave me alone, Sesshoumaru?" she sighed. "For the first time ever I was actually enjoying one of these boring parties, and you had to go and insinuate yourself where you aren't wanted. Your brother is very... entertaining," she added with a lightly flirtatious smile, deliberately baiting him - and Inuyasha's eyes gleaming with laughter egged her on. "Much more interesting than anyone _else_ at this party."

Sesshoumaru didn't miss the slight in her words; he glared at her, his eyes promising retribution.

Kagome just held his gaze, her own flat and unintimidated.

After a moment of that, Sesshoumaru turned his frigid gaze on his half-brother, a sudden surge of jealousy making him aggressive. "You sniff where you aren't wanted, hanyou. Stay away from my wife," he growled.

At that Kagome turned a dangerous gaze on Sesshoumaru, her reiki beginning to react to the deadly spike of youki in the air. "You don't own me, and I will speak to whoever I wish, are we clear?" she hissed in a low tone. "Go find someone else to bother."

"I don't think so," he drawled, still staring threateningly at his brother, who just looked more amused. "I think that you are forgetting who your husband is, woman. Perhaps I should remind you."

Kagome's eyes went flat and cold. "Gloat over that all you want, Sesshoumaru, because one day I _will_ walk away from you a free woman. You might be able to drag the proceedings out, but you can't hold me prisoner forever," she snapped.

Inuyasha laughed aloud at the look on his brother's face. "Looks like you picked the wrong woman, bastard - because I think you found the one woman on the planet that's actually not afraid of you. I'm going to enjoy every bit of this situation more than I have anything else in my life!"

"You will not be seeing my wife again, so do not get your hopes up," he shot back at his half-brother, a raging inferno of sheer hate whirling up inside him at the hanyou's insinuations.

Inuyasha's grin widened and his fangs glinted in the light. "Ah, but you don't have any say in that, now do you, bastard? I've been missing the fights with your dear mother so much that I've decided to stay at the mansion - and thanks to dad's will, you can't turn me out or deny me. So I'm going to have frontline seats to this whole, wonderful debacle. Deal with it," he finished dismissively, the urge to dissolve into laughter at the look on his brother's face almost overwhelming.

This was quite possibly the most fun he'd had in years - and it was just beginning. He could hardly wait.

"Father's will can only restrain me so far, foolish bastard child," Sesshoumaru warned coldly, his eyes filled with threat and heat that actually managed to stun Inuyasha for several long moments. It took him a few to understand. This wasn't a game. His brother was _serious_. "If you wish to keep breathing, keep your filthy paws off my wife, are we clear?"

And then a huge, beaming grin crossed Inuyasha's face. "Oh, this is going to be even better than I'd thought," he gloated, glancing between the two fuming people in front of him. "The untouchable lord has finally fallen from his pedestal - I never thought I'd see the day."

"What?" Kagome said, confused at the sudden undercurrents, and that same niggling feeling of worry she'd had during dinner about Sesshoumaru's reasons for demanding her presence returned as she stared with narrowed eyes between the daiyoukai and his brother.

Sesshoumaru didn't answer, didn't even look away from his half-sibling, a subsonic, rumbling growl vibrating the air around them.

So Inuyasha took it upon himself to answer her question. "I've been waiting for years to see the day that the bastard here found someone he couldn't intimidate or push around - someone as strong-willed and defiant as the beautiful woman in front of him right now."

His brother was going to go down in flames, and it was absolutely going to be the very best day of his life when that finally happened.

No one moved when a silky voice interrupted the dangerous silence simmering between the three after Inuyasha's last comment and a neatly manicured hand gently touched Sesshoumaru's shoulder and then ran lightly and almost proprietorially down his arm.

"Come, Sesshoumaru, why don't you leave the rabble-" the woman said with what she considered a seductive pout, "-to entertain themselves?"

It was the same woman Kagome had earlier basically told she could have the daiyoukai with her blessing, and she couldn't help the mocking smile she directed at the woman. "What took you so long?" she asked dryly. "I told you you could take him off my hands quite some time ago. Instead he's here bothering me instead of chasing you around this eyesore. Could you possibly work any slower?"

Inuyasha almost spit out the wine he'd just sipped while avidly watching his newfound partner in crime to see what she was made of, and instantly decided not to have food or drink when the two combatants were in close proximity. There was too much of a chance that sooner or later he'd end up losing the fight to keep things in his mouth instead of all over the immediate area as he almost fell to the ground in stitches.

"You hussy," the other woman hissed, nose in the air. "Why don't you-"

She was cut off by Kagome's laughter. "Hussy? _Seriously_?! That's all you could come up with?" she giggled. "That's quite hypocritical, since I'm not the one hanging all over a supposedly married man. That word would apply more to you than me. Perhaps next time you decide to use a word-" she shook her head at the woman's expression, "-you should look it up first to see what it means."

The woman's hand tightened on Sesshoumaru at the insult as her face flushed with heat, but she was once again cut off, this time before she could even get anything out. "Kimiko, why are you here?"

With a dismissive smirk sent Kagome's way she answered, looking up with fluttering lashes at the daiyoukai, who still hadn't stopped staring with hard eyes at his brother. "Rikichi and Chime asked me to come find you - they've been looking for you!" she said, tugging lightly on the arm she still had trapped within her grasp.

With one last warning glare at his brother and another sent towards his wife Sesshoumaru finally looked down at the female on his arm and inclined his head. "Very well - I do have business to discuss with Rikichi, and now is as good a time as any." He looked back up at Kagome, now completely ignoring Inuyasha. "Don't disappear, my dear - I'll only be more annoyed if I have to track you down when it's time to leave."

Brow rising, Kagome stared him down. "I'll do as I please, Sesshoumaru. I'd have thought you'd have figured that out by now," she said blandly, promptly turning back towards Inuyasha and snubbing both Sesshoumaru and his little lady-friend as though they didn't exist. She easily initiated a rousing discussion with the hanyou about favorite pastimes and took not another moment's notice of her husband nor his flock of bitches in heat - and Sesshoumaru definitely was aware of that fact, since he watched her closely all night.

He wondered idly just how much more of this he could take - and she'd only been back for less than a day.

How was he ever going to make it through the promised month without just tossing her down and mating her with or without her permission?

~oOo~

Kagome paused in mid-anecdote as a sour expression wiped the smile off of Inuyasha's face as he looked over her shoulder. Brow rising, she turned her head and followed his gaze - and then her face went sour, too.

She sighed with irritation. "I'd hoped you'd already slept your way through the upper-echelon and finally been tossed out. That blows that hope. What the hell do you want, Kikyou?"

The gorgeous woman so-addressed scowled at Kagome. "And I suppose you haven't done the same down there in that kami-forsaken place you've been living. I'm sure there are all sorts of boytoys out there for you to choose from - even if you'd have to bribe them something terrible to spend time with low trash like you," Kikyou spat, glaring at the slightly younger woman with hatred.

"Don't speak that way to her, Kikyou, or-"

"No, Inuyasha, it's okay. Kikyou's my cousin, unfortunately," she glanced at the fuming woman with dislike, wondering what had truly crawled in her cheerios to make her such a bitch. "But she's seemed to forget that I am not her, and I actually do have standards. And neither she nor your brother are up to them."

Inuyasha couldn't help the chuckle that response pulled from him, though he was stunned to know that the two women were related. He didn't react, however, deciding to save it for after Kikyou had departed. "Yeah, unfortunately I know her, too," he said slowly, frowning again as he looked back at the suddenly suspicious expression on her always petulantly pouting face. "So what the hell did ya want, anyway? Just to exercise that catty mouth of yours?"

Kagome looked at Inuyasha with surprise. "You... know Kikyou?" she asked blankly.

"Oh, yeah," he said, ignoring Kikyou's angry hiss. "She used me to get to Sesshoumaru. She played it good, I'll admit, but she eventually showed her true colors and I dumped her. She's spent all the years since following that uptight bastard around trying to get him into her bed, and then once she'd done that she started trying to get something more out of him. He dumped her within days and moved on to the next, and she's been desperate to get him back ever since." He rolled his eyes as he looked at Kagome's blue ones with a small smile. "Not that it's ever going to happen, but she's pretty delusional," he whispered in a falsely confidential tone that everyone nearby could hear.

"Hm... seems my presence here has put a slight crimp in your plans then, Kikyou. You know what? That actually makes me happy! It couldn't happen to a more deserving person than you. Now," Kagome said, nonchalantly turning her head back around and dismissing the haughty, bitter woman - to her extreme ire, "why don't you go join the bastard and all his other 'ladies', and leave me the hell alone?"

Kikyou wasn't ready to be ignored, though, and Kagome stiffened as the other woman's voice sounded right in her ear. "You might have his attention right now, but as soon as I can convince him to divorce you it'll all be over. He'll be mine, and you'll just be used goods."

Temper sparking a little at the threatening tone of Kikyou's voice, Kagome spun on her heel to stare incredulously at the older woman. "Are you really that dense? Haven't you figured out by now that I'm not interested in that cold jerk in the slightest, and I'd be ecstatic if you _could_ talk him into divorcing me?" She shook her head. "I'm not your problem-" she gestured over towards the corner that Sesshoumaru was holding court in and all the females fluttering around him, "_they_ are. So why don't you go make the rounds and pass that warning on to them, because you're just wasting your time trying to upset me about such a topic. I'd be most pleased if you could get him far, far away from me."

It was clear the other woman didn't know what to make of that; black eyes flashing, she sniffed in Kagome's direction and then glowered at Inuyasha. "And why are you hanging around the whey-faced bitch, anyway?"

While Kagome chortled at being called a 'whey-faced bitch', Inuyasha glared right back at his ex. "None of your business, Kikyou," he said bluntly, knowing that would get the other woman. She had never been able to stand the word or concept of 'no' and so she didn't really know how to act when she did get that answer. After a stare-down of a minute or so, Inuyasha turned his attention back to Kagome. "Why don't we go sit out on the balcony - it's a nice night out and this room is getting a bit stuffy."

"I think you mean rancid," Kagome muttered under her breath while nodding her acquiescence and allowing the hanyou to take her arm. Apparently she hadn't been quite quiet enough though, and Kikyou's gasp of gobsmacked shock that Inuyasha's choked laughter almost drowned out made her look over at her again.

"How dare you-!" she began, but was once more cut off by the hanyou.

"Very easily, I assure you. Now go away, Kikyou. If you hadn't figured it out already, you aren't welcome here. Go find someone else to badger and leave us the hell alone."

Both women stared at him at the hard note in his voice, and Kikyou was suddenly not so sure what to think about anything anymore.

Maybe Sesshoumaru really was out of her reach...

But she wasn't going to give up. She wanted him, and sooner or later she'd get him and to hell with low scum like her ex and her cousin - they were nothing more than the dirt beneath her feet.

_Nonetheless... _"This isn't over," she seethed, looking back and forth between the two. "Not by a long-shot." And with that she stormed away, head held high but two spots of color on her cheekbones gave the lie away. She'd just been completely knocked off-kilter and shown up by her once timid cousin.

_Round two, Kagome. And all the rest of the rounds to come, as well, _the younger woman thought with satisfaction.

She grinned and looked up to see a matching expression on the oddly playful Inuyasha's features once again as he led her across the room to the doors onto the balcony and the bench seats it sported. _Yeah... that one definitely went to me! _


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The next morning found a calm Kagome drinking tea from a delicate china cup on the deck just off the kitchen. It was a sunny, pretty day with a few high, fluffy clouds drifting across the sky, and the best part was that so far Sesshoumaru and his mother hadn't bothered her.

It was actually peaceful for once, though she knew that wouldn't last, since Inuyasha would be showing up some time today and basically moving himself in for the duration. She giggled a little – they'd hit it off immediately last night, and she knew she'd made a permanent friend in him, one she'd be keeping even after she finally regained her freedom from Sesshoumaru.

_It's absolutely amazing how different he and Inuyasha are. I wonder what his mother was like – and their father, for that matter. To have raised two such different children... _She shook her head – it was incomprehensible to her in so many ways. _Oh, well, _she shrugged her thoughts off as her cell rang. She glanced down at the number and then answered with a smile.

"Hey, Sango! How are things going now that you've got the apartment temporarily to yourself?" she teased.

Her friend's voice was bright when she answered, though there was an undertone of concern. "Oh, you know, it's great not having a roommate," she poked back, though they both knew she was lying. Sango hated being alone. "But hey... how are you doing? Is everything... okay?" she asked hesitantly.

Kagome chuckled, leaning back in her chair and looking up at the sky with pleasure. "Everything's fine, Sango, don't worry. I'm actually having a good time getting my own back with all these harpies around here."

"Oh... well, good!" Sango replied, her voice lightening considerably. "And how are you handling you know who?"

"Like a professional bitch," she sent back cheerfully. "And hey – I've even got a new friend and ally – the half-brother I never knew Sesshoumaru had. They don't get along very well, so Inuyasha's enjoying seeing him being 'knocked off his pedestal', as he put it," she finished mirthfully.

"I wish I could be there," her best friend sighed, though her worry had faded from her voice at Kagome's calm elan over the situation. "But I'm glad you've got them all by the balls," she said bluntly. "That's the way to do it – never let them run you down again, girl."

Kagome giggled at her friend's phrasing but simply shook her head. That was just Sango for you. "If you were here I think Sesshoumaru would have already given up and sent us back to Auckland. I don't think he'd be able to handle both of us," she laughed.

"Hell, no, he wouldn't," Sango retorted, a grin in her voice. "No man's going to 'handle' me – not that Miroku still isn't trying, but I'm used to dealing with that lecher, so it's no biggie." She paused, then said, "Oh, hey, by the way... you got a letter from your lawyer here – did you want me to forward it on to you?"

"Hm," Kagome frowned, "I wonder what Kouga wants? Why don't you just open it and read it to me," she suggested. "I'd rather not wait to find out something has gone wrong."

Sango hesitated. "You don't mind?"

"Not at all! You're like a sister to me, silly, you're my best friend, and I know I can trust you with my life," she said a little chidingly, "so go ahead!"

She could hear the heartfelt smile in her friend's voice. "Okay," was all she said in return to the sentiment, just accepting Kagome's words and moving on in her usual forthright manner. "Let's see," she murmured as the sound of tearing paper came through the phone. It was quiet for a few moments as she read rapidly through the letter, and then, "Oh, my god, Kagome. From what this is saying, your lawyer has found a little loophole in your father's will. Apparently, if you can prove you're fit to handle your finances before a judge, then you might be able to get control of your fortune now instead of having to wait!" she reported excitedly. "If you could do this you could get out from under that guy's thumb now instead of in a few years!"

If at first inclined to jump out of her chair in excitement, a second thought paused her; while she was definitely going to take a chance on that loophole, that wouldn't really help her with her current situation of having to spend the month here in Tokyo. Anything that had to go to a courtroom setting took time – it would probably take at least a couple of months to get a court date. "Hmmm," she hedged, thinking it all through. "I think I'll give Kouga a call and tell him to go for it. Let him get all the initial filing done and everything, that way once I'm finished with this month in hell I can prepare for court at my leisure, and Sesshoumaru won't be able to hold my inheritance over my head the way he has been ever again." A sly grin twitched her lips and then she giggled. "Oh, this is going to send him wild! I almost wish I could be a fly on the wall when he receives the summons to court over the matter. He'll be livid!"

"You and me both!" Sango cheered, thrilled for her friend. She had no doubts Kagome would be able to sway any judge to decide in her favor. The girl was sober, bright, a hard worker, and she'd been managing a business for several years now. There was nothing to find fault with in her business acumen or how she handled her money.

"Thanks for calling me about this, Sango," Kagome returned affectionately. "This might just make all the difference for me – and if I can get control of my money now, I could also file for divorce this year instead of having to wait another couple of years." She sighed blissfully. "I think you just made my entire life, girl."

"Not a problem at all – I'm thrilled for you," the brunette said. "Well, I'd better get off here so you can get that call to Kouga out of the way – sooner started, sooner ended in your favor, right?"

"Too right!" Kagome agreed cheerfully, and after saying her goodbyes she hung up, feeling more hopeful than she had in a long time. Without pause she dialed her lawyer, and the ensuing conversation practically had her glowing with pleasure.

But as she hung up with the wolf youkai she sighed and her brow furrowed – she'd have to tone her elation down or Sesshoumaru would know something was up. And she most definitely didn't want that – she wanted this to come out of nowhere like a devastating right hook and knock him off his high horse. She wanted to _see_ the crater he'd make in the floor as he fell, so with a control she wouldn't have had just a few short years ago she calmed herself and buried her excitement under the facade she'd perfected since leaving Tokyo.

_Finally... something's finally going my way. After everything I went through at his hands, I'm going to relish being freed of him once and for all._

~oOo~

"Kagome!"

Turning around at the sound of someone calling her, the young woman was astonished to see a beautiful teenage girl running towards her, and she blinked, surprised for a moment – until she recognized her. Waving at her with a bright smile, she turned and hurried forward, meeting the grinning teenager halfway with a hug.

"Rin! Oh, my god, look at you! You're so beautiful!" Kagome gasped, pulling back from the tight hug with wide eyes and looking the young woman over. "It's so good to see you!"

During her time as a virtual prisoner here, Rin had been her only consolation. She'd liked the girl immediately on meeting her, and they'd become fast friends. And strange as it might seem, as she was the daughter of Sesshoumaru and Kagura, that hadn't interfered in any way in their easy friendship. She'd even tried to act as a buffer between her and her grandmother – and had been partially successful in the fact that whenever she'd been around the older female had been forced by her affection for her granddaughter into leaving off the torture. Rin had really given her the only peace she'd known after her disastrous forced wedding, and she had remained fond of the girl, even exchanging occasional letters and cards with her after she'd left Tokyo.

"And you, too, Kagome!" Rin chirped cheerfully, a sunny smile lighting her face. "You look so polished now and so much happier, too!"

With a laugh Kagome turned and tilted her head at the table that still held her tea. "Come on, why don't we sit down and have a nice talk – it's too beautiful of a day to be inside, right?"

Rin giggled and nodded in return. "Of course it is... I much prefer being out here in the gardens than anywhere inside that old pile, anyway. Walls just aren't as beautiful as flowers, after all!"

Unable to help the laughter that comment brought out, Kagome ruefully agreed. Rin had always been a nature child – she loved flowers and plants more than just about anything, and sometimes her penchant for gardening drove her father nuts. He employed gardeners, and taking care of the extensive gardens was their job, not his daughter's. But he'd never been able to say no to her... not many could with that beautiful, ingenious little face beaming so joyfully. She had to be one of the happiest people Kagome had ever met – and with her surroundings, parentage, and grandmother's influence that was amazing.

"So... you've graduated high-school at the top of your class, I hear... have you chosen a university yet?" she asked, honestly curious to know what the young woman wanted to do with her life.

"Well, I've been offered a place at Hokkaido, as well as Tokyo U, but I'm really thinking about going to Kyoto. Then again," she hummed thoughtfully, "there's Nagoya. They do have a top rated science and technology department."

Kagome was a little surprised. "Science?"

Rin smiled ruefully at her expression. "I know, it sounds strange, but I want to be a botanist."

Expression clearing, she chuckled. "Oh, now it makes sense. Still, Tokyo U also has high ratings for the sciences, too. I figured you'd want to stay close to home."

"Nope. I'd actually like to get out there and see something different," she returned wryly, and grinned when Kagome laughed.

"Well, I can't blame you there, because life's certainly a lot more fun if you grab everything you can out of it," she agreed.

"So... what about you? What are you wanting do with your life, Kagome?" Rin asked, looking her older friend over with a smile. "I know you've been working at a bookstore... but don't you want to go to college, too?"

Kagome sighed and sobered a little at that as she thought about it. Did she want to go to college? Certainly, before her life had been hijacked by her father's and Sesshoumaru's high-handed actions she'd been preparing for it just like every other good Japanese teenager. But now? Would she even have time if she were running a business?

"I'm... not sure, actually," she said after a moment. "I've been offered the chance to buy the bookstore chain that I've been managing for the last several years, and I'm going to take it. If I'm running and expanding a business like that I don't know if I'd have time for school as well."

Rin's eyes brightened. "Really? That's awesome! I'm so excited for you! As long as this is what you want, who cares what anyone else says, right?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked, her eyes showing her confusion.

Rin waved a hand and scoffed. "Oh, you know – the naysayers that always harp on whether one has a degree or not. I say if you are already handling a business and excelling at it, who needs a piece of paper saying a bunch of stuffy old professors agree that you know what you're doing?"

"Oh," she chuckled. "Well, those kind of people are everywhere, but honestly, I haven't run into anyone like that down in New Zealand so far. They're a lot more open to deciding for themselves whether you're capable or not. Just like my boss – he didn't care a bit whether I had a degree or not. I proved I could handle the business and that's all he cared about."

Rin was just about to respond when she caught sight of her father crossing the deck and smiled in welcome. "Oh, hey, dad. I'm surprised you aren't at work – isn't it a little late in the day for you to still be here and dressed so casually, too?"

"I won't be working for the next month unless an emergency presents itself," the daiyoukai said quietly, glancing at Kagome with an expression she found made her uneasy for the fact that it was one she couldn't decipher. For once there was no edge of tension riding him, no aggression directed at her in any way. With his hands in his pockets and that enigmatic look on his face he looked the picture of ease – and yet for some reason, his calm was making her definitely nervous. An aggressive, combative Sesshoumaru she could deal with – but this?

"Oh... you're actually taking a vacation from work?" Rin teased, seemingly unaware of the heavy atmosphere between her father and his wife. "The world must be ending," she laughed. "I can't remember the last time _you_ ditched work."

"Yes, well... there are a very few things in this life that are more important," he replied with a glance in Kagome's direction before returning his gaze to his daughter with a small smile. "What kind of male would I be if I didn't put my family ahead of money?"

Eyes narrowing minutely on the daiyoukai, Kagome bit her tongue. She knew what he was intimating with that comment – that she was a part of what he considered his family and she was what he was ditching work to attend to. _Ha... a little too late to decide that now, you jerk, _she thought resentfully, though she was careful not to show her reaction. She didn't want to upset Rin. Even back when she'd lived here she'd done her best to shield the younger girl from the horror of what her life was really like at Sesshoumaru's hands. She'd absolutely refused to fight or argue with either of the other people in the mansion if the thirteen year-old was anywhere nearby, not wanting to upset the girl's beautiful heart.

"An appropriate sentiment for a father," was all she said in a level tone before taking a sip of her tea. She made a face – it had grown cold, and so she stood up and excused herself, taking her cup and heading for the kitchen to see if the cook could make a fresh pot. Normally she'd just make it herself, but the woman who ran the kitchens with an iron fist wouldn't allow anyone else to do her job, and so Kagome just smiled and bore the discomfort of having someone waiting on her in any manner.

She'd always been a little too independent to enjoy having people do things for her – she was quite capable of doing them for herself.

"Kya-san, could I have a fresh pot of tea if you aren't too busy?" she asked politely, handing the cup over when the older woman turned and held her hand out for it.

"Of course, Kagome-sama," she replied with a friendly smile, and Kagome winced inwardly at being addressed as 'sama'.

"Thank you," she said, turning and watching out the windows as Sesshoumaru and Rin interacted. She couldn't help the slight envy that went through her as she watched how he treated his daughter like she was the most precious thing on earth. If only... but no... such things weren't for her. She hardened her heart and looked away, instead staring at the gardens as she waited for her tea. Once upon a time she'd have greeted positive attention from him with happiness, but that hadn't lasted long once she'd met the reality of who he was to everyone else but Rin.

She wasn't Rin, and she wasn't Kagura, and now she no longer even wanted to be. She was Kagome, not anyone else.

~oOo~

"What are you up to, father?" Rin asked quietly as Kagome disappeared inside the house. She watched her sire follow the other woman with his eyes, his enigmatic expression not fooling her for an instant.

Sesshoumaru flicked a glance at his daughter as his wife disappeared from view and leaned against the balustrade behind him, folding his arms over his chest. "Taking care of my family," he answered, his gaze going back to the kitchen and the woman inside it; even though he couldn't exactly see her, he could still feel her.

"Hmm, the way you say that... _is_ Kagome part of this family, then?"

It was silent for several long moments, and then he said, "Yes."

The teen studied her father with oddly calculating eyes. "Why is she family now, when you didn't treat her that way before?"

Startled, Sesshoumaru shot her a sharp look, a little surprised to see the weighing expression on her normally easygoing face. "What do you mean?"

"Come on, dad, I'm not stupid. I wasn't back then, either. Kagome might have tried to hide it from me, as did you, but I knew how badly you treated her and that's why I wasn't at all shocked when she ran away. If I'd been her I'd have left sooner, actually. So why is she family _now_ when she wasn't then? What's changed?"

Taken aback as his daughter basically called him out, Sesshoumaru stared at her for several moments and then sighed slightly, surprising Rin. She didn't think she'd ever heard that sound from him before. "Her age," he hesitated, and then added, "she was too young, back then."

Rin's eyes widened in shock. She was half inuyoukai, so she knew full well what her father was saying with those words, and she just stared at him as she looked at the events of her father's wedding and that disastrous first year of his marriage through new eyes.

_Oh... now I understand, _she sighed inwardly with sadness. _Now it all makes sense. _"I'm sorry. That must have been really hard for you," she sympathized. Standing up, she wrapped slim arms around her father and just held him, truly sad for him and for Kagome. _He must have been horrified when he realized..._ She pulled back after a few minutes and looked up at him. "I'll help you, dad. I'll do everything I can to help you get her back. Though I have to say you still could have treated her better back then."

Sesshoumaru smiled faintly down at his beloved daughter with an oddly open gaze, since she'd already figured it out – or at least the majority of it - there was little point in trying to be evasive about the matter. "Thank you," was all he said, before his eyes went back to the house and the disconcertingly blank windows staring back at him. "I do believe I'm going to need all the help I can get."

~oOo~

"What is he doing here?" Satori spat acidly, looking with extreme dislike at the hanyou that had just sauntered into the foyer like he owned the place, and immediately Sesshoumaru's rather pensive mood of the morning disappeared like mist in the desert.

"I came to enjoy the fireworks," Inuyasha grinned easily, not at all put out at the hostility he was being greeted with. "And see-"

"Uncle Inuyasha!" Rin greeted enthusiastically, running down the stairs and throwing herself at the hanyou. Despite her grandmother and her father's rancor towards him Rin had always adored him, and he was very fond of her, as well.

"Hey, pup, what's up?" he quipped smilingly as he hugged his niece. "You look good despite being stuck in this tomb with the Addams Family over there."

"Stop it, uncle," Rin chided laughingly as she pulled away. "Why can't you all be nice to each other?"

"Because I'm not getting paid enough," Inuyasha teased wryly. He glanced over at the sour faces of his half-brother and the bastard's mother, and shuddered. "Not nearly enough. So..." he began, looking around, "where's Kagome?"

Satori narrowed her eyes on the bastard upstart that was stinking up her home. "How the hell do you know that low-clas-"

She was silenced by a snarl as Sesshoumaru pinned first her and then Inuyasha with reddening eyes. "Enough, mother. Not another insult or you'll be finding someplace else to live," he growled, to her shock. "And you, hanyou – I already warned you to stay away from my wife."

Rin sighed and shook her head ruefully. "Are you guys ever going to stop fighting?" she asked rhetorically.

"Probably not," came a fifth voice, and everyone standing in the grand entrance looked up to the first floor balcony to see Kagome looking down upon the group with a strange smile. "Honestly, half the time it's like being in a dog pound around here what with all the snarling and snapping going on at all hours," she said, and both Rin and Inuyasha chuckled at her smart comment.

"Not like you haven't done your fair share of snarling and snapping, my dear," Sesshoumaru returned coolly.

She shrugged lightly. "Well, you know the old saying," she grinned, "when in Rome..." she trailed off suggestively before meeting Inuyasha's gaze. "And good afternoon to you. You're looking quite cheerful today."

"Well, what do you expect? I haven't been here five minutes and already I'm having more fun than a barrel of monkeys," he chuckled, grinning at her in return as she made her way down the stairs.

"Yes, well, this is probably the most fun this place has seen since it was built," Kagome sighed, ignoring the fulminating glare Satori was sending her way. "Actually, I think we might be breaking some kind of law about that. You know... going over our daily fun allowance. Who knows what the consequences will be?"

Rin giggled, shooting an amused look at her glowering parent. "You know, Kagome, you might be right. Maybe we should stage a mutiny and fill this place with laughter instead. It would be a lot more interesting around here if we all laughed and enjoyed ourselves rather than all the arguing."

"I see your uncle has been rubbing off on you," Sesshoumaru frowned, casting a rather dirty look at his half-brother. "His irreverent behavior at all times is certainly not welcome."

"I'm going out," Satori snapped, angry at the sense of easy camaraderie between her granddaughter, the bastard hanyou she hated, and the bitch her son had replaced Kagura with.

"Hn," Sesshoumaru said coldly, narrowing his eyes warningly at her. "Do not return until your temper has improved," was all he said as he turned away from her to head into the depths of the manor. "Kagome, be ready to leave in an hour. Dress casual," he added over his shoulder, and the woman in question frowned after him, wondering what he was up to now.

Inuyasha stared after his brother with speculative interest, then looked at the beautiful woman the bastard was lucky enough to call wife with a question in golden eyes. She met his gaze and shrugged, completely clueless.

"Don't look at me, I don't know what that was all about either."

Noticing that a certain someone was conspicuously quiet, both adults turned to look at Rin, who grinned sheepishly. "What?"

"Spill, pup," Inuyasha growled playfully, grabbing the teen and tickling her.

"Nope," she giggled, squirming away from her uncle's grasp. "It's supposed to be a surprise." She glanced over at Kagome. "You'll like it, though," she added cheekily.

Brow rising into her bangs, Kagome sighed. _I wouldn't count on that, Rin. I may like the destination, but I'm not going to enjoy the company. _"Well, I suppose I should get ready, then," was all she said to that. Meeting Inuyasha's knowing gaze, she smiled. "I guess I'll see you later. Have fun, you two," she chuckled as she turned to go back upstairs, heading for her bedroom to find something decent to wear.

As soon as she was out of sight Inuyasha looked at his smirking niece. "Okay, _now_ you can spill. What's he up to?"

Rin shook her head and skipped away from her uncle's reach. "Nope. Still not telling," she chanted in a sing-song voice, cheerful laughter spilling from her throat as she ran off, her playfully growling uncle chasing after her through the house with threats of terrible vengeance echoing off the walls along with her delighted laughter.

~oOo~

"What possessed you to bring me here?" Kagome asked quietly two hours later as they wandered beneath the spreading branches of the Goshinboku.

Silver locks swaying softly in the gentle breeze, Sesshoumaru looked out over the grounds of the Sunset Shrine, pleased with how the caretaker he'd had installed was discharging his responsibilities. After a moment he said, "I simply thought you would like to see how it was being cared for. And perhaps visit your parent's graves." Both her mother and father were buried in the graveyard behind the shrine proper where all the past shrinekeepers had been laid to rest since the place had been built in the Sengoku Jidai. "Was I wrong?"

Kagome shook her head after a moment, wanting to maintain her anger at him but seemingly unable to beneath the god tree. It had always had a knack for calming even her worst moods when she was younger, and apparently that hadn't changed. "No. I'm glad to see that it's being taken good care of," she said tonelessly. "But this kind of gesture isn't like you, Sesshoumaru."

"Perhaps. And perhaps you don't know me as well as you think," he answered before taking her by the elbow and guiding her towards the graveyard.

"Oh, I know you as well as I ever intend to, as well as I need to," she retorted, though there was no real heat in the words, and she didn't fight him as he led her where he wanted her to go. "Getting any closer would be a pointless exercise."

Sesshoumaru didn't respond that time, and after a moment Kagome turned her attention to the different monuments, heading unerringly for the ones that housed her parent's remains. The daiyoukai let her go, staying back in respect to her privacy.

Setting his presence aside for the moment Kagome reached her father's monument and knelt before it, staring at the fresh flowers at the base of it with saddened eyes. She reached out and ran a gentle finger down the base of it. "Why did you do this to me, dad? Was male solidarity really worth ruining my life?" she whispered. "You had to know what he was like – did you think someone like that could make me happy?"

She'd spent much futile time over the last six years wondering those same things. Would her father have done the same if he'd been able to see the outcome? Or would he have been angry that she'd run away and left the husband who was no husband?

It had never made sense to her. She had thought her father loved her, but how could he leave her with Sesshoumaru as a husband if he did? She sighed. "I wish I could talk to you one more time, so that you could tell me what you were thinking and why you did what you did. I don't know if I'll ever find peace with your memory because of all of this."

Silence greeted her just as she'd known it would, and with melancholy eyes she looked away and stood up, moving over to her mother's monument. This time her sadness was more for the loss of her mother rather than angst over her choices, and she knelt again, her eyes touched by wistful tears.

If her mother hadn't already been dead when her father died, her life would be so different now. She'd probably be getting ready to graduate from college, possibly engaged, and most likely a great deal less scarred than she was currently – and a great deal happier.

"I miss you so much sometimes, mama," she said softly. "Things were so hard after you died... and they only got harder when dad died. Have you been watching over me? Have you defended me from father's actions there in the other world, perhaps yelled at him for what he's caused? It would be nice to know someone out there was watching over me-" she flicked a surreptitious glance behind her, "-besides Sesshoumaru. It's not like _he_ has my best interests at heart."

A soft breeze brushed playful fingers through her hair, and Kagome smiled sadly. "What should I do, mama? How can I make sure that I don't end up stuck here at the end of the month? I'm afraid he's going to go back on his word and try something underhanded to keep me here, and I already just want to go back to Auckland-" she blushed guiltily, "-back... home."

It was strange to be sitting here on the shrine where she grew up and calling somewhere else home – someplace that wasn't even in the same country. But it was true nonetheless – the day she'd been forced to marry Sesshoumaru the shrine had ceased being her home, and she was pretty sure she would never regain the former feelings she'd had for it. It was just a place now – a place with a lot of memories, true - but still just a place.

With an impatient shake of her head Kagome stood up and resolutely turned away from her parent's graves, not wanting to dwell on the past anymore. There just wasn't any point, since it wasn't like she'd ever get any of the answers from them that she wished she had.

"So who's been taking care of the place?" she asked neutrally as she rejoined Sesshoumaru near the entrance to the graveyard.

"An old schoolfriend of yours, actually," he replied in the same manner. "Hojo."

"Really?" Kagome looked taken aback; the boy who'd had a severe crush on her throughout junior high had always talked about being a doctor, not a shrinekeeper.

The daiyoukai glanced at her. "Yes. He and his wife live here while he goes to school. I suppose she does most of the work, leaving only the more difficult chores for him."

"What's he in school for?"

"Medicine," Sesshoumaru replied. "I believe he only has a few more years of school before he graduates. From what I understand he has so far received top marks."

Kagome chuckled in a subdued manner. "I'm not surprised. He always was very bright. I _am_ surprised he's married already, though. He always insisted he would wait to get married until he was finished with school and his internship so that he could have a more settled life with a private practice so he'd have more time for a family."

Sesshoumaru shot her an enigmatic glance. "Yes, well... sometimes life throws you a curve, and you have to be ready to adapt."

Coming to a halt, she stared at him with calculating eyes. "So what curve did life throw you that you needed me to adapt to it?" she prodded. "I'm not a fool, Sesshoumaru. There's some reason for what you're doing – you never do anything without one, and I don't think it's too much to ask that you simply be honest with me and let me in on the joke."

The inuyoukai came to a halt and turned to meet her gaze with eyes that were glowing in an almost feline manner, an indecipherable look in them that had her uneasy for the second time that day. "Do you really want to know?" he asked coolly.

"Yes!" she shot at him, exasperated and annoyed. "I really want to know! So why don't you put us both out of our misery and just tell me so that we can get whatever it is over with and I can go home?"

Sesshoumaru smiled faintly. "I want you to be my mate, Kagome," he said, his smile widening just slightly at the stunned, horrified look on her face. "And you can be assured that I am not joking. Not the slightest bit."

She stared at him with wild eyes as he turned and began walking towards the stairs leading to the street, his, "Come, wife, I'm hungry and it's almost dinnertime," tossed easily over his shoulder as if he hadn't just turned her entire world upside down with what he'd just said.

~oOo~

A/N: I'm humbled and astounded at the response I've had to this story so far. Because of that and some RL issues I haven't been responding to reviews and that will probably continue – every time I post a chapter of this story my inbox gets absolutely swamped – between Dokuga and FF I'm averaging over a hundred reviews per chapter. That's just too many all at once to respond to, and that's not even counting reviews that I still get for other stories. However, I read every one and enjoy them greatly – they are what keeps me writing, because if no ones enjoying the story then I just won't bother to write it.

I'll still try to get answers out to questions, though I wasn't able to respond to much of anything from last chapter, and I sincerely apologize for that!

Amber


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